Unity, Duty, RWBY
by Generatedname
Summary: An Order of Mata Nui plot sends the Toa Metru into a different world. Now, they must find a way back home to complete their duty to the Matoran while meeting new friends and deadly enemies along the way. Will they become the weapons that the Order wants them to be? Or will they somehow stay true to their virtues in a world full of monsters that only death will deter? T for blood.
1. Chapter 1

**Unity, Duty, RWBY**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Bionicle.**

**Chapter 1**

**Location: Irrelevant.**

Boredom was never an easy thing to deal with, even if you were one of the most powerful beings in the universe. In fact, having and understanding the power of dimensional travel only made Brutaka a hazard to others as well as to himself, what with him dropping a giant dragon creature into the middle of a densely populated city. As such, in order to avoid another Tahtorak mysteriously appearing somewhere it shouldn't, (although Brutaka had considered dropping a few on Odina when the Dark Hunters acted up.), Toa Helryx had allowed the Olmak-masked titan to use his mask to amuse himself so long as it did not interfere with the universe the Order of Mata Nui was sworn to protect. Brutaka agreed, seeing as the alternative was expulsion from the order, coupled with a sound thrashing from Helryx herself.

Now, he had his own pocket dimension, full of 'repossessed' items from various other universes, including a gigantic plasma TV, a gold and blue sofa, several magazines containing Helryx in compromising positions (the result of him discovering what 'Shipping' was), and an assembled figurine of himself, taken from the shelves of a toystore of one of the more important universes.

However, none of those items helped in relieving his current predicament. His endless popcorn box (somewhere on Earth, a popcorn machine seemed to always stay empty, regardless of how many tons of popcorn were dumped into it.) sat neglected, its owner having already watched almost every movie and TV series made, with several items, ranging from a garish purple 'Pony' doll to a life sized statue of a being known only as 'Spock', graced various areas of the room. Brutaka had even attempted to write 'Fanfiction', although he was prohibited from doing so after Helryx found a particularly graphic example of his writing where she was shipped with a 'Captain Kirk'.

However, while other universes had their share of entertaining material, nothing quite compared to screwing with his own world. However, Brutaka was prohibited from dimensional manipulation of his own universe unless it went along with the Order's agenda or otherwise benefited them. Brutaka thought for a short moment, before he suddenly had an idea.

The bioquake caused by the Great Cataclysm had impacted the entire world, and the Order now stood to oppose its perpetrator, Makuta Teridax. However, the Order's strength lay in its ability to stay hidden, making it unable to risk a direct confrontation with Teridax's brotherhood, rather forcing the Order to rely on proxies such as the Toa. Brutaka despised those idealistic fools. They were unwilling to do what was necessary to protect the world, as was evident in the treatment of the Kanohi dragon by the Toa Mangai. They had subdued the beast and had it at their mercy, and yet their code prevented from killing it, causing them to send the beast to Xia, where the Vortixx could add it to their ever growing arsenal.

Suddenly an idea came to him. As he pondered it, a smile slowly grew under his mask.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Vakama sighed for what seemed to be the thousandth time that day. The Toa Metru had just escaped the realm of a giant plant creature named Karzhani, and were now making their way back to Metru Nui to complete their mission and rescue the Matoran from the clutches of the Makuta. Of course, their mode of transport left much to be desired, being a raft made of dead Karzhani vines and Vahki transport parts. The team of six Toa were still a few days' worth of travel away from the city of Metru Nui, and the ride was turning out to be extremely dull.

Just then, a blue metal hand touched his shoulder armor. Vakama looked over his shoulder to see his fellow Toa, Nokama, behind him.

"Hello, sister." He said, his voice reflecting his state of mind.

"What's the problem?" The blue Toa of water asked. "Have you had another vision?"

"I've just been thinking." He replied.

"About what?"

"Our mission. What if we can't save the ones we are sworn to protect? What if we fail? So many things could have happened to Metru Nui in the time since we left! What if we're too late, and all we find are cracked open spheres and corpses?"

"Don't think like that! We're Toa! Our duty is to the Matoran, and our destiny is to save them, no matter the cost."

"But we've done so much already. Eventually, we are bound to meet a foe that we cannot defeat! What if that foe lies in Metru Nui, and we are all sailing to our doom?"

"You worry too much, brother. Just look at what you have already done and just try to imagine anything that can defeat us! You've defeated the Morbuzakh, found the Great Disc of Ta-Metru, crafted the mask of time, and imprisoned the Makuta for Mata Nui's sake!"

"But I couldn't do any of those things without my team at my back."

"And at your back we will stay. Now stop worrying and start acting like the fearless leader that you have always been for us!" Nokama said, her words helping ease Vakama's troubled thoughts. He thanked her, before returning to his thoughts, this time planning rather than worrying. He continued to do so as the sun slowly set.

* * *

**Brutaka POV**

The plan was infallible, and it was a win-win, both for the bored titan and the Order. After all, while Helryx would most likely blow a circuit if he sent the Toa to an alternate dimension, she would be open to him sending the Toa to a place where they would hone their skills. Now, all that was left to do was find a suitable place to send the team of six heroes. World after world was considered and discarded, as almost all of them had some kind of morals that would get in the way of what he wanted: A team of Toa that were not averse to killing, and yet would only do it when the time was right. With some entertainment on the side, of course. Finally, the gold and blue titan found the right world. Now, all that was left was to avoid strangulation at Helryx's hands for sending the Toa Metru there.

**Several Minutes Later...**

"You want to do WHAT?" Helryx shouted as Brutaka finished his explanation.

"I just told you what I want to do. I want to send the Toa Metru to another universe in order to break them of that unnecessary 'Toa Code'." Brutaka replied.

"And why should I even consider allowing you to do that?" Helryx replied, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Just think about it. What if the Toa had executed Teridax when they had the chance? What if Vakama decided to shoot his disk at the disguised Makuta rather than at that statue of Likhan? We wouldn't be in this whole mess with the brotherhood in the first place! Make no mistake, I do not approve of mindless slaughter, but I also hate the excessive mercy that the Toa show... present company excluded, of course." Brutaka replied.

"The Order does not deal in hypotheticals. Right now, the Toa Metru are our best hope for getting the Matoran out of Metru Nui and away from the Brotherhood of Makuta. Why should I let you put those hopes in jeopardy?"

"He who dares, wins. The Toa Metru had a chance to end this war before it even began and they threw it away. They believed a mere prison could hold one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Prisons, just like rules, were made to be broken. How long will it be before someone breaks Teridax out? It's a possibility that we cannot ignore."

"And do you really think that this plan will rectify this problem? Or is this just a result of another foray of dimensional exploration? You know what happened the last time you spent too much time out of this universe."

"Don't worry, this is nothing like that last time."

"It better not be. You have my permission to go ahead, but I am assigning Axonn to keep an eye on you. If anything happens to the Toa while they are in your care, I will flay you alive. How long will this 'training session' last?"

"For the Toa, it will most likely last a few years, but due to asynchronous time passage between the selected universe and our own, it should only last a couple of minutes on our end. Axonn and I will supervise them, and if necessary, create additional obstacles for them to overcome."

"Do it, then, and make sure to return them here not only in one piece, but stronger as well. You better hope this works, Brutaka. For your sake."

"I will not fail, then." Brutaka said, before teleporting away to his pocket dimension. The plan had been put in motion.

* * *

**Matau POV**

Matau, the Toa Metru of Air, kept watch as the rest of the team slept. Normally, the green Toa would be dozing at his post, but something was different. Matau scanned the horizon, the sky, and even the water, looking for any sign of whatever was triggering his sense of paranoia. It felt as if his entire body was tingling in anticipation of something that was about to happen, but what was that something?

His question was answered as a portal opened up directly above the slowly moving raft.

Matau leapt into action, quickly waking the rest of the Toa team, but any plans of escape were scrapped as the portal began to move down, quickly engulfing the raft and its helpless crew. Then, everything went black as pain shot through the hapless Toa of air's body.

* * *

**Axonn POV**

The silver and red clad titan looked uncomfortably at the contents of his friend's 'pocket dimension', pausing particularly to gaze at the strange magazines. (Could Helryx's back _really _bend that way?)

Meanwhile, Brutaka whistled a strange tune (how he could whistle in the first place was a mystery for the ages) as he sent six helpless Toa into another world. Brutaka had already handed him several pieces of 'Instructional Material' that had to do with the world the Toa were being sent into, but they left him more confused than he was when he had started.

"So, what do you think?" Brutaka asked after several minutes of silence, during which he had sent the Toa through a vast amount of pocket dimensions, each one filled with various energies and substances that, when combined, had the desired effect on the helpless heroes. At the moment, the Toa looked... strange, to say the least. The familiar biomechanical exterior was replaced by soft pink skin, while the protosteel armor had changed to fit its owners' new forms. The toa metru looked... fragile to say the least. A single swing of an axe would easily dispatch them all.

"What am I looking at?" Axonn asked, unsure if he should be amazed or disgusted at the changes made to the Toa Metru.

Brutaka looked at him curiously for a second before replying: "Ah, I forgot, you don't have the power of dimensional travel. This is an example of a human, possibly the most entertaining and terrifying being in the multiverse! What they lack in physical ability, they make up in ingenuity and tenacity. Remind me to show you some of their entertainment videos sometime, they really are something..." Brutaka trailed off before resuming. "Regardless, the Toa will need to assume their forms, or they wouldn't be able to take full advantage of the opportunity I have given them. Don't worry, the change is reversible." Brutaka continued, "However, I want to ask you, would you prefer the Toa dropped in as one group, or as separate teams?"

"Why do you ask? A Toa's strength lies in unity, so they will be best together."

"True, but is it not true that we learn best from adversity? Put the Toa together and they can easily overcome almost anything this world can throw at them, but they gain nothing from the experience. Splitting them up will force them to adapt to the situation."

"Why are you even asking me? Just do what you think is right. My job here is simply to report you to Helryx if you mess things up." Brutaka sighed in response.

"Hmph, I had hoped for someone to talk to, not a sentient piece of recording equipment. But as you wish, I will split the Toa."

Several seconds passed as Brutaka opened several portals, directing pairs of Toa into each one.

"There. Now, we just sit back and relax." He said. Then, he lifted a strange white and red striped paper box which was filled with a multitude of brown and yellow-white objects.

"Popcorn?" Brutaka asked, eating a few.

* * *

Vakama awoke in darkness. Strange sensations shot through his body as he opened his eyes. He was in a dim compartment, lit by only a few lights on the ceiling. The compartment was in motion, judging by how it shook every once in a while. Activating his mask of invisibility, Vakama stood, looking around. A grid of red beams was laid out across the floor, while right next to where he woke up...

Vakama gasped in shock. A strange being, clad in unusual blue clothing, lay there, unconscious. Pale pinkish-white skin gave it an organic look, but that was impossible! Then, the toa of fire saw Nokama's hydro blades on the being's hips.

Vakama then examined his own body, his breathing rapidly escalating as he saw the changes made to it. The same pink, organic skin, the same lack of biomechanical parts. Just then, Nokama awoke. Her eyes widened as she looked around.

"Where am I?" She asked herself.

"I don't know. It seems to be a transport of some kind." Vakama replied. He grabbed Nokama's arm, allowing his mask's ability to extend to her.

"Vakama? What happened to you?" She said.

"Again, I don't know."

Just then, a pair of loud noises set the two Toa on edge. Rapid footsteps sounded, growing closer and closer, until they stopped on the roof of the toas' compartment.**  
**

A loud '**CLANG**', and a panel came away, before being lifted by a masked being that wore all black. It dropped down, followed by another one, this one having much longer black hair, which wore white and black clothing, with black ribbons tied around its arms. As they dropped, they triggered the light grid. Red lights lit up the area, illuminating a small army of mechanical beings, each one glowing red.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way." The being with short red hair said, its voice deep.

"Don't be so dramatic." The other one replied. Both readied their weapons.

One of the mechs stepped forward, its arms shifting into strange weapons.

"_Intruder. Identify yourself." _

'The mechs must be this place's equivalent of Vahki enforcers.' Vakama thought as he checked to make sure he and his teammate were hidden.

The masked being turned to face the mech that spoke. Then, a loud BANG echoed around the compartment as a sword flew from the sheath at its side, slamming into the mech. Leaping forward, the being caught the sword in midair, and used it to quickly cut the enforcer into several pieces.

That made the rest of the mechs shift their arms into short, curved blades and charge.

The two intruders responded in kind, quickly cutting through the obviously inadequate mechs.

After destroying the charging mechs, the two beings went on the offensive, moving blindingly fast. One mech shifted its arms into a strange weapon, before unleashing a hail of small projectiles. The two beings spun their weapons, deflecting the incoming fire, while simultaneously charging forward, slicing the enforcers to pieces.

"What do we do?" Nokama asked, as the two Toa watched the one sided battle unfold.

"We reveal ourselves, and hope for the best." Vakama said, dropping the cloak and loading his disc launcher, just as the two other beings kicked open the wall, allowing light to enter the dark compartment.

Walking out, weapons ready, the toa followed the two beings.

"Let's do this." The masked being said, just as an army of enforcers charged.

One of them caught sight of the two Toa.

"_Additional intruders, identify yourselves."_ It said. This caused the two beings to turn in shock.

"Hmm. Looks like the Schnee company decided to hire some help." The masked one said, "Blake, take out the mechs. I'll handle these two."

Then, it charged. Vakama took aim and fired his disc, a freeze one made in Onu-Metru. The being deflected it with its sword, before attempting to close the distance between itself and the toa. Vakama jumped away from an incoming strike, while Nokama took his place, hydro blades at ready.

* * *

Blake made short work of the robots. As she did so, she wondered how it was possible that the best security droids in the world could be so easily defeated en masse by a single, well trained teenage girl. She looked around, to see Adam locked in combat with one of the two hired guards, a blue haired girl, wearing a blue combat skirt with armor woven into it, while her partner, a boy around the same age with bright red hair, wearing crimson armor that looked well made, reloaded his strange weapon. He took aim and fired, the disc flying straight towards her.

Deflecting it, Blake leaped into the air, switching Gambol Shroud into its gun form. She aimed and fired twice, her opponent deflecting the bullets. Then, the red clad boy disappeared, vanishing into thin air.

* * *

Vakama activated his mask power, vanishing from sight. His weapon was undamaged, but it was ill suited for melee combat... or was it? Examining the launcher, he noticed a pair of blades that were definately not there before, as well as a lever separate from the launcher assembly. Pulling said lever, he watched in shock as the launcher snapped open, re-arranging itself into a battleaxe. Pressing the firing button, Vakama was propelled forward by a rocket assembly built into the axehead. He deactivated his mask power as he flew towards the being identified as 'Blake'. A swing of his transformed weapon caught his opponent by surprise, as Blake barely dodged the blow.

Just then a black blur flew past the fighting pair, followed closely by a blue one. Nokama had figured out how to transform her weapon as well, carrying a long, two sided trident, presumably made by fusing both hydro blades.

Vakama's opponent took advantage of the momentary distraction, her weapon transforming from a sword into a small spiked weapon at the end of a long ribbon. The blade caught Vakama on the back, his armor deflecting the blade but the raw power behind the blow knocked the toa of fire off balance, something which his opponent was quick to capitalize on. Several blows brought Vakama to the ground.

"Blake, kill him! NOW!" Nokama's opponent shouted as he was forced back by a flurry of blows from his own enemy. Nokama's eyes widened at this, and a powerful jet of water coalesced in the air, sending her opponent through the wall of a nearby train car. Aiming her trident at Blake, she squeezed a trigger and one of the weapon's ends detached, the three pronged harpoon forcing Blake out of the way. Using the extended harpoon as a whip, she kept Blake away as Vakama rose to his feet. Just then, a flurry of energy blasts flew from the cart into which Blake's ally had been thrown into moments before.

"Adam!" Blake shouted as a giant four legged mech emerged from the car, reminding Vakama of the giant Kraahu model of Vahki enforcer. As Vakama watched, the four cannon array making up its armament reconfigured itself, and a massive energy blast began to bloom at the end of the giant blaster, the weapon aimed straight at 'Adam'. In response, the being suddenly began to glow a bright red, standing still with sword at ready. Rather than be obliterated, the powerful cannon blast was absorbed into Adam's weapon, while the red hardpoints on the mech lost their light. Then, the giant mech lunged and was shattered by a single blow. However, this gave Vakama the knowledge needed to defeat him. Switching his battleaxe into its disc launcher form, he loaded an enlarging disc and fired. Whirling around, Adam absorbed the disc's energy and lunged at Vakama, the toa angling himself so that the blow would hit without causing lasting damage. The power of the disc flowed into Vakama, the toa of fire growing in size. A powerful kick sent Adam sprawling, his sword spinning out of his grasp. Before he could get to his feet, a freeze disc immobilized him. The two Toa then turned to Blake, who was standing at the edge of the cart adjacent to the one currently occupied by the Toa, hand on her sword's hilt.

"Goodbye." She said simply, before a single blow cut the connection between the two carts. Without an engine to pull it, her car slowed, the gap between it and the rest of the train quickly widening. The two Toa turned to Adam, who was struggling to escape his prison. Nokama aimed her trident and fired both ends, trapping her enemy's arms between two of the harpoon's prongs. A level 8 weakening disc prevented him from being able to forcefully remove himself from his temporary prison. All that was left to pass the time was an interrogation. While their captive was extremely resistant to questioning about his purpose on the transport, he was, to say the least, extremely surprised by his captors' lack of knowledge about the world they had found themselves in. Regardless, very little information was gained, other than the name of their destination, which was the city of 'Vale'.

The last few hours of their journey were spent taking stock of the situation as the two toa stood guard, Vakama slowly returning to normal size. While Nokama worked on getting an understanding of the local language, Vakama continued interrogating their captive for any scrap of information about their current physical forms. When the train finally slowed to a stop, Vakama considered freezing their captive and making a run for it, but eventually he decided against it. When people came to the end of the train, they were shocked, to say the least.

"I wasn't aware that the Schnee dust company had hired hunter initiates to guard this particular train." Vakama was jolted out of his semi-conscious state by a man wearing a dark grey set of clothes. Two other men wearing blue combat armor and carrying batons stood guard behind him. Vakama was about to reply, but the man continued.

"Regardless, the Schnee dust company owes you a debt of gratitude for the capture of notorious criminal Adam Taurus." The man handed Vakama a white envelope.

"Enclosed is the fifty thousand lien bounty on this particular criminal's head. We thank you for your efforts and will take it from here. Cuff 'im boys." The two armed men took the still weakened Adam Taurus into custody, the criminal too weak to resist. As the two Toa disembarked, the man ran up to them.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Your actions today caught the attention of a certain individual. He asked me to give you this." The man said, handing them another envelope before leaving.

The two toa walked away from the train station, attempting to look inconspicuous. However, the weapons on their backs drew a number of looks from various bystanders.

"Look mama! It's a huntwess!" Vakama turned to face the source of the voice. A little human, not even half Vakama's size, ran up to him and his teammate, a flimsy little replica of a sword in its hand. A taller one followed, looking frustrated.

"Are you weally a huntwess? Can I have your awt... awto... autograph?" The little human asked Nokama.

"I'm sorry for my daughter bothering you." The taller one began to apologize.

"Don't worry. No harm done." Nokama replied, before using a thin water jet to sign her name into the hilt of the little human's weapon. Thanks to her mask of Translation, Nokama was able to speak, understand, read and write in any language. However, the only difference between 'Vitalish' and the Matoran language was the way it was written, the spoken language being much the same. She had already taught the written language to her teammate, allowing Vakama to use a small jet of flame to burn his own name into the hilt as well.

"Thank you!" The little one cried, before rushing away, dragging its mother behind it. Nokama giggled a little while watching the scene. The two of them made their way into the city of Vale, before Vakama remembered the letters given to him. Opening the first one, he saw a thick stack of light green papers, each one reading '100 lien' on it. The second one contained a letter. He gave it to Nokama, as he himself could not read fluently yet. It turned out to be an invitation for a meeting with a certain 'Professor Ozpin' regarding their admission to a 'Beacon Academy'. Apparently, the professor had reviewed footage of them in combat and deemed them suitable for admission after assessing their combat skills. The Toa were invited to meet with him at the 'Jade Dragon Cafe' an hour later, where they would be interviewed regarding their admission. They could turn down the offer by not attending or return the letter in order to re-schedule the interview.

"So, what do you think? I, for one, am all for it. It never hurts to improve one's abilities, and this 'Beacon Academy' seems like the perfect place to do so." Nokama said.

"I'm not so sure. Shouldn't we be focused on finding the rest of our team? And what about the Matoran? We need to find a way to get back to them!" Vakama replied.

"True, but what will we do in the meantime? We have no place to stay, no way to obtain the food that these new bodies need, and accepting this offer solves both problems!"

"Very well. However, our priority is to the Matoran, and we leave as soon as we find a way back home."

"My thoughts exactly. Lead on." Nokama said, falling into step with her teammate.

They found the cafe about half an hour later, sitting down to wait. Nokama, being somewhat accustomed to the rules of this world, went up to order some food for the both of them. Nokama got herself an 'Ursa Claw', while Vakama discovered that he had a taste for 'doughnuts'. The two sat there, drinking the tea that Nokama had also ordered while waiting for the professor to show up.

After a while of just sitting there, occasionally re-heating his tea with a burst of fire, Vakama saw a tall, grey haired man wearing a dark green suit enter the cafe. Every head in the room suddenly turned and a few gasps were heard.

The professor, at least, the man Vakama assumed to be the professor, looked around the room before laying eyes on him and his teammate. He walked over and pulled out an unused chair from the table where the two Toa were sitting.

"Professor Ozpin, I presume?" Vakama asked. The man allowed a faint smile onto his face.

"Have you considered my offer?" He asked in response.

"Yes, and we would be glad to accept." Nokama replied, before Vakama could reply.

"Good. Now, follow me. We have some things to discuss away from the public." Ozpin replied. He led them to a car, inviting them in, before sitting in the front seat, next to a woman wearing a tattered purple and black cloak with light blonde hair.

Once the doors were closed, Ozpin turned to the two.

"You know, you two are some of the most unusual cases that I have encountered in my time as headmaster of Beacon. It's not every day that you see two extremely capable combatants appear out of thin air into a train car, right before said car was attacked by the White Fang. Then, you two exhibited strange abilities in your battle with said criminals. Do you know how rare it is to find someone with a semblance of water? And don't even get me started on the ability to become invisible at will. Finally, there are no records of you two anywhere in the system. It's almost as if you two didn't exist until now. Do you have anything to say about that?"

"I don't know. One second, we were on a raft, heading home to carry out our mission, and the next we were sent here through a portal." Vakama replied.

"And what was that mission?" Ozpin asked. Vakama stayed silent. "I understand if you do not wish to disclose the details. If my offer interferes with said mission, you are free to decline at any time."

"It's far more complicated. It's not a question of when we can return to where we came from, rather, it's a question of if." Nokama replied. "For one, the twin moons are gone, replaced by a single, fractured one. Second, every being we have encountered is fully organic, which should be impossible." Ozpin's eyebrows rose at that declaration.

"So you are saying that you are from a different world entirely?"

"Yes. We decided to accept this request due to the only alternative being to run around without an inkling of what to do or where we are. This way, we can know our duty once again while finding a way home."

"Good. Now, judging by your skill in combat, you were warriors back on your homeworld, am I correct? May I ask, what is your stance on killing?"

"What? Killing is one of the most horrible things one being can do to another! Toa never kill, no matter the opponent." Vakama interjected.

"Let me ask you this. Would you kill someone, if the only alternative was to let the man go and cause the death of a thousand others?" Ozpin asked.

"Why do you ask? Is Beacon a place to train heroes, or is it a school for murderers?" Nokama asked.

"It is neither. It is a school for hunters. Our job is to protect civilization from both the creatures of Grimm and any criminals that may threaten it. When it comes to criminals like the White Fang, incapacitation is preferable to death, but when it comes to the Grimm, the only way to end the threat is to kill it."

"What are these 'Grimm'?" Nokama asked.

"Monsters. They are soulless creatures of destruction that want nothing more than to snuff out the light that is our civilization and destroy everything we have built. They are cunning, powerful, and want nothing more than to kill every last human on Remnant. They appeared soon after Humanity first rose on this world, and have since done nothing but attempt to kill us all. It is the duty of all hunters and huntresses to defend civilization from a terrible end at their hands. Unfortunately, the only way to do so is to kill them."

"Do you know why they do this?" Both Toa asked.

"There are theories, but no concrete facts. Some say that the Grimm are the result of experimentation by ancient humans. However, the most popular theory is that the Grimm, being the only 'living' things that lack a soul, seek to destroy everything else alive, as all other living things have some form of Aura, and thus a soul. Regardless, the only way to stop a Grimm from attempting to take a life is to kill it first. That is what Hunters and Huntresses are trained to do. As such, if you wish to attend Beacon, you must be willing to kill when necessary. You do not have to enjoy it. In fact, enjoying the act of taking a life is a terrible quality to have. However, you must be prepared to commit the act. If you are unwilling to do so, you may decline the offer." Ozpin said.

The two Toa looked at each other. After several seconds of thought, Vakama nodded to his teammate.

"We accept." He said. Ozpin gave a reassuring smile.

"Good. I will get to work creating a background for you in order to allow you legal entry into Beacon."

"Isn't that... well... illegal?" Nokama asked.

"Technically yes, but occasionally we get a student who has drawn the attention of some more... unsavory elements, and as such will need their background information falsified for their safety. You have two weeks until the school year starts, so I suggest you use the time wisely. You will be staying at the Kingdom Square hotel until then. It is there that I will drop you off. Arrangements have already been made, so just show your acceptance letter at the front desk to be assigned a living space."

Soon, the ride was over, and the Toa were dropped off. Following Ozpin's instructions, they were soon given a place to stay. Once they were inside, Vakama allowed himself to collapse on the soft bed that awaited him, going out like a light. It had been a long day.

**Six Days Later...**

Matau and Nuju walked down the street, having just completed another small assignment. Some paranoid man had wanted his shop guarded from a bunch of red and black clad thugs. The Toa Metru of Ice and his airheaded teammate had been doing odd jobs due to their unusual status as 'Hunter initiates', which provided enough money to get by, barely. However, this night was different. Rather than spend the night sleeping, the two Toa had been contracted by another shopkeeper to clear out the thugs' den. Thus, the two Toa were en route to the nightclub where the gang was based. It was considerably more dangerous than the other jobs the Toa had been doing over the past few days, but it paid well.

Nuju and Matau had been accepting paying jobs ever since they had found themselves transformed in a warehouse near the Vale city docks. Fortunately, the two had retained their abilities in their new forms. Unfortunately, their bodies now required constant sustenance, something that was completely unnecessary back on Metru Nui. Their equipment had changed as well, with weapons gaining additional functionality while masks changed into more convenient forms, namely pendants carved into their likeness. Nuju's telescoping optic had become a prosthetic, having fused with his head. It was not that much of an inconvenience, but it did attract attention.

Nuju ignored the stares that his upgraded left optic gathered. Meanwhile, Matau waved to a pair of girls that were walking to the same club. Nuju sighed. While he had been able to control the strange urges that his new body had, Matau was not so focused. The Toa of Air had become a giant flirt, something that irked Nuju to no end.

"Mata Nui dammit Matau! Will you flirt with anything that has a pulse?" He asked, irritation clear in his voice.

"Hmph. Some wingman you are." Matau grumbled.

"Remember, we have a job to do. Keep it together until it's over."

"Sure-fine." Matau replied, showcasing an annoying trait that carried over from his old body. Chute-speak was still alive and well in Matau's mind, making the toa of air even harder to understand Thankfully it was less prevalent in the airheaded toa's speech now than it was before they ended up here, but it was still present.

"We're heereee!" Matau said, jarring Nuju out of his thoughts. He glared at his partner before the doors slid open.

"Remember the plan. We wait until civilians are clear BEFORE we wreck the place." Nuju said as he entered.

"I know, I know." Matau replied, before spotting two girls, one in a white dress, the other in red.

"Helloooo ladies!" He said.

"Hmpf. What ever..." They said in unison before walking away.

Meanwhile, Nuju pulled some Lien out of his pocket and decided to have a drink. He needed one after putting up with Matau for the whole day.

"Sorry, we don't serve minors." The barkeep said. Nuju scowled, sitting down. He observed the club, making note of the thugs' positions in the room.

A short scream, and Matau went flying across the room, the two girls he was chasing having tossed him.

Just then, the door slid open, a girl with long yellow hair walking in. She wore a brown leather vest, a white asymmetric skirt, and a pair of golden bracelets. Nuju performed a quick scan which confirmed his suspicions that they were concealed weapons. Nuju also saw the looks she drew from some of the thugs in the club. Walking up to the bar, she spoke.

"Strawberry Sunrise, no ice. Oh, and one of those little umbrellas." She ordered.

Then, the man next to her, whom Nuju had identified as the leader of the gang, looked over to her.

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?" He asked. The girl giggled in response.

"Well, aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?" The girl said.

"So, you know who I am. You got a name, sweetheart?" Junior asked in turn.

"Yes, Junior, I've got several," the girl began, tracing a finger up and down Junior's arm. "But instead of Sweetheart, you can just call me sir!" The girl said, grabbing Junior in a certain painful area. Nuju saw Matau wince out of the corner of his eye. The airheaded Toa had experience with injuries to that particular area. "People say you know everything. Tell me where to find her, and I'll let you go." The girl raised a scroll with her free hand, showing a tiny picture of someone that Nuju couldn't care less about.

"I've never seen her before! I swear!" Junior said, his voice far more high pitched.

"Excuse me?" The girl said, squeezing harder.

"I swear, sir!" Junior replied, his pet thugs running up to help their leader.

"Hmm, looks like we have an audience. This must be pretty embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward!"

"Listen, Blondie, sir! If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go! Now!" Junior groaned as the girl let go. "You'll pay for that."

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?"

"Well, OK."

The girl leaned forward, Junior doing the same. Just when Nuju thought their lips would touch, his respect for the girl suddenly grew a hundredfold.

With a loud '**WHACK!',** the girl delivered a devastating punch to the oblivious Junior, sending the man through one of the glass pillars in the club.

"That's our cue." Nuju said, standing up and readying his Crystal Spikes, while Matau drew his Aero Slicers. People began to scream and run out of the club, while the thugs closed in. The bracelets on the girl's wrists changed into larger gauntlets. As the thugs charged her, she leaped into the air, raising her fist as she did so. Then, the girl accelerated downward, knocking her attackers away with a powerful shockwave.

Nuju took aim with his crystal spikes, as the weapons had changed to incorporate crossbows into their melee function. Matau kept his twin aero slicers in sword form, as their alternate form of razor edged fans did not fit the image he was trying to cultivate.

After firing ice spikes at any thugs still standing, Nuju shifted his weapons into twin barbed swords before following Matau into the fray. The thugs were the same, ill trained and badly equipped men that he had mopped the floor with on guard duty. The only difference between then and now was that there were a lot more targets.

The sound of a machine gun opening fire caused Nuju to look up, sending any nearby standing enemies flying with a pulse from his mask of telekinesis. Matau was fighting while surrounded by a group of decoys from his mask of Illusions. The gold haired girl, meanwhile, had blasted her way up to where the machine gunner desperately fired to save himself, kicking the weapon out of his hands, before grabbing and slamming the man's costumed head into the record player, the music dying away as she did so. Finally, she raised the injured man and blasted him into the air, his unconscious body coming to rest at the feet of the two girls Matau had been going after earlier.

"Melanie, who are these people?" The red clad one asked.

"I don't know Miltia, but we should teach them a lesson." The white wearing one replied.

The two charged, Melanie going for Nuju while Miltia went for Matau. A blast of ice forced Melanie to dodge right into the path of a pair of ice spikes, which she deflected with her heel blades. Nuju shifted his weapons back into swords just in time to block a flurry of blows from his enemy. Meanwhile, Matau had his opponent striking at duplicates, while the real Matau had disguised himself as air a short distance away.

"Matau, Cyclone!" Nuju shouted as a telekinetic blast sent his opponent flying away.

"Twister ready!" Matau said as he created a miniature tornado. Nuju then added his own power into the swirling wind, the cyclone filling with hailstones.

A series of explosions sounded in the background as the golden haired girl fought Junior. Nuju watched as the older man's weapon broke, the man flying backward, holding the remains of his weapon in one hand and a handful of golden strands in his other.

A pair of loud shrieks sounded as the two girls were caught in the tornado, being sent flying through the roof covered in patches of ice. With a bright flash of light, an extremely furious female flew across the room and delivered a devastating punch to the gangster's face, sending the man flying out the window.

"Well, that went surprisingly well." Nuju commented as he and Matau strode out of the club.

They came out just in time to see their ally land in front of a smaller girl in a red cloak.

"Yang? Is that you?" The new girl asked.

"Hey sis!" Yang replied.

"What are you doing here?" Her sister asked. Yang sighed.

"It's a long story."

"And who are these two?" The girl asked.

"Oh, them? I dunno." Yang replied as Matau unfolded one of his swords and began to fan himself. Nuju cooled himself off with a quick blast of ice before beginning to check his weapons over for damage. It was about then that the two girls fell from the sky, landing unconscious on the ground beside Junior. Nuju looked up briefly before resuming his inspection, ignoring the strange stare the younger girl was giving his Crystal Spikes.

"Should we introduce ourselves?" Matau asked.

"Sure, might as well." Nuju sighed. "I'm not applying ice if you take another hit to the balls though."

The older girl heard the last bit of conversation and giggled, before walking up to the pair of Toa.

"Soooo, who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Matau, while tall, white and icy over there is-"

"Nuju. Call me Nuju." The toa of Ice cut off his partner. "Ignore Matau, he will flirt with anything that can breathe."

"Pleasure to meet ya. I'm Yang, and this is my sister Ruby!" Yang said, pointing to the other girl as she attempted to poke Nuju's crystal spikes.

"Look, but don't touch." Nuju admonished her.

"What are they? What can they do?" Ruby asked, her voice bubbling with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Crystal spikes. They can shoot ice spikes or transform into swords. Matau's aero slicers turn into fans for some reason while doubling as glider wings."

"Cooooollll..." Ruby said, hypnotized by the Toa's arsenal.

"Sorry sis, but we should get going. You have to get home, while I have a report to make to Professor Ozpin. Say, boys? Why were you here anyway? Did the professor send you here as part of your Beacon initiation test?"

"Initiation test? No, just a mission for some shopkeepers. And what's this 'Beacon'?" The two girls froze.

"You mean that you haven't heard of one of the best combat academies in all of Vytal?"

"We're new here."

"That's no excuse. What are you guys planning on doing with your life? You've got the skills needed to become awesome hunters and you're just doing odd jobs for shopkeepers!"

The two Toa looked at each other.

"We might as well give it a try. Where do we go?" Nuju asked.

"Just follow me!" Yang said, as she ran to her motorcycle, a vehicle that reminded Matau of his time on the test track back in Le-Metru. The toa of air fastened his Aero Slicers to his back before leaping into the air, grabbing Nuju as he did so. The two Toa took flight, Matau's manipulation of air currents allowing him and his passenger to stay in flight indefinitely. Following the two girls on the motorcycle, they watched as Ruby was dropped off before flying low in order to keep track of Yang. Finally, they watched her stop at a deserted park. Matau came in for a landing, releasing Nuju as he neared the ground. The park was occupied by one other man, a tall one with spiky grey hair.

"Ah, Miss Xiao Long. How did your assignment go?" The man asked.

"I did great, professor! Also, I found these two at the club. They planned to clear it out themselves, but I came along before they could!" Yang replied. Nuju made note of how the man's eyebrow rose slightly as he caught sight of the two Toa.

"Excellent, Miss Xiao Long. As for you two, what are your names?" The Professor asked, the girl taking that as her cue to leave.

"I am Nuju, and this is Matau." Nuju answered.

"Hmm..." The Professor suddenly looked deep in thought, before raising his scroll. "Are you familiar with these two individuals?" The scroll showed a pair of pictures, one of a red haired boy with yellow-green eyes carrying a disc launcher, while the other was of a blue haired girl with yellow eyes and a pair of Hydro Blades at her sides.

"What are their names?" Nuju asked hesitantly, although he already knew the answer.

"Vakama Garnett and Nokama Saphera."

"It's them, although I can't say I approve of the last names. Where are they?" Nuju demanded.

"Safe. Now, I assume that you are here to apply to Beacon?"

"We're here to find our teammates and go back home, not to attend your academy."

"Ah, but your two teammates have already accepted my offer. They have decided to make the most of their time here while they find a way to return, and this way you will have far more resources to help you find a way back."

"Very well. The two of us will attend, but we will not follow any plan that you have for us. We have a mission, and we intend to complete it. With or without your help." Nuju said, coldy, before walking away. He thought about what the Professor had said. It meant that the the rest of the Toa were here, in this world.

He turned to the Professor.

"If you see anyone named Onewa or Whenua, admit them." He said, before leaving.

"Very well. I will make the necessary preparations." He heard the professor say.

* * *

**1 Week Later**

Whenua walked down the darkened street, face buried in a book. He found it extremely odd that the only difference between the Matoran and Vitalish languages was a different set of symbols for letters, but he was not one to look a gift Ussal Crab in the mouth. He was currently engrossed in a book about the Faunus War, specifically focusing on what caused it. The concept of a society based on ancestry and physical appearance was foreign to the Toa of Earth, as he had come from a world where advancement in society was based off of work ethic and personal experience. Discrimination based on race was unheard of back home, but here it was clearly practiced against the Faunus.

He was broken out of his musings by a smack upside the head.

"Take your face out of that book and watch where you're going!" Onewa, Toa of Stone, said. Whenua looked up to see that he had nearly walked straight into a wall.

"Your night vision powers don't help one bit if you're not watching where you walk."

Whenua just grumbled in response. It had been thirteen days since he and his fellow Toa had found themselves here, and the toa of earth and stone had been living out on the street ever since. By the time the two of them had translated the language, they had already been dirtied up enough for potential employers to take one look at them before saying that they don't hire vagrants. That left them with several options. They could either scavenge what they could to sustain a meagre existence, continue looking for a job, or use their combat skills to apprehend criminals for their bounties. The choice was a no-brainer, and it was that choice that caused the two of them to be out walking in the middle of the night, trailing a man that Onewa had identified as a 'Roman Torchwick'. The orange haired, white suited man walked the streets with a noticeable swagger, four black and red clad underlings trailing behind him. All other people on the street gasped in fright and parted as the criminal strode by, not even noticing them. The posse's current destination seemed to be a dust store, which was appropriately named 'From Dust til Dawn'.

Pushing open the door, the five criminals entered, while the two Toa took up positions outside, waiting for the man to come out. Whenua used his pendant/mask's limited X-ray vision to keep an eye on the men within. The store contained seven people total. The five criminals, the shopkeeper, and a young girl wearing a red cloak and reading a weapons magazine.

"Two civilians inside." Whenua said to his partner.

"I'll get them clear while you go after Torchwick." Onewa replied. Their target had one of his goons hold the shopkeeper at gunpoint, while the rest went around and stole the merchandise.

One of the robbers noticed the girl and drew his sword, a bright red curved blade. He walked over to the girl, getting her attention with a tap on the shoulder, knocking off her crimson hood.

A short exchange took place between the two, which Whenua couldn't hear. Just as he prepared to make a move, the girl suddenly delivered a rapid kick to the man's chest, sending the robber flying. Another one ran up to her, ready to shoot, but the girl lunged forward, the sound of glass shattering alerting the two Toa to the fact that the thief had been driven clean through the window. The Toa stepped out, just in time to see the girl draw her weapon, a massive crimson scythe at least twice her size unfolding in her hands. Twirling the weapon, she planted it blade first in the ground, facing her opponents.

The two Toa emerged from their hiding spot, weapons at the ready. Whenua had his earthshock drills while Onewa had his proto-pitons. Torchwick stared at the trio.

"Okay... get them!" The wanted man shouted to his underlings. The three identically clad men charged, weapons drawn.

A swing of Onewa's proto piton sent one tumbling to the ground, his legs being swept out from under him. Another fell as the girl spun on her scythe, kicking the thug in the face. The third and final man had the ground collapse under him as a result of Whenua's drills burying into the road, the thug falling into the newly formed pit. The last one took a look at his opposition and ran, dropping his weapon as he went.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." Torchwick commented, "Well, we can all agree that this has been an eventful evening, and as much as I would love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

The man raised his cane, the tip popping up to form a sight. Then, a loud flare shot out of the end of the weapon, aimed straight at the red cloaked girl. Onewa threw up a stone wall to shield her from the blast, the wall shattering as the flare hit it. The girl leaped into the air to avoid the shrapnel. The three temporary allies looked around, only to spot Torchwick escaping up a ladder on a nearby building.

"Shake him off!" Onewa shouted, activating his mask power. The Toa's target paused, grunting from the sudden burst of mental pain from the mask of mind control. However, the criminal managed to take aim, firing a flare that caused Onewa's focus to break, freeing Torchwick from the mask's effects. The criminal continued to climb, reaching the roof just as Whenua combined his drills, jamming the result into the ground, causing a localized earthquake. The sound of shattering glass and people crying out in shock filled the area. While this was going on, the red cloaked girl used her weapon to quickly rocket into the air, following her target. Onewa followed, using his weapons as grappling hooks.

"Persistent..." Torchwick muttered as Whenua reached the roof as well. Then, a loud whine filled the air and a giant grey aircraft rose rapidly, a blinding light emanating from its nose. Whenua cried out in pain and collapsed as his sensitive eyes were burned by the spotlight, while Roman Torchwick boarded the aircraft.

"End of the line, kids!" The man shouted over the noise of the aircraft engines, throwing a red crystal that he had stolen from the dust shop. It clattered to a halt at the feet of the red cloaked girl, Torchwick firing a flare as it did so. Just as the flare hit, though, a figure leaped in front of it, conjuring up a shield which blocked the blast. As the dust settled, Onewa saw a white and black clad woman wearing a ragged looking black and purple cloak standing in front of the group, a short rod in her hand conjuring a giant purple glyph. The red cloaked girl gasped slightly at the sight of the woman, who straightened her glasses before flicking her wand and creating several bright purple projectiles, which flew towards the aircraft, exploding against it but doing no real damage. A ball of purple energy streaked into the sky as the aircraft attempted to flee, creating a miniaturized storm. A rapid hail of ice spikes came down from the black clouds, stabbing into the aircraft's hull.

Just then, a red clad figure shrouded in shadows entered the fray, standing in the transport's cargo bay. A fireball streaked towards the wand wielding woman, who blocked it with another shield glyph. Suddenly, the floor under the woman glowed red, before a screaming pillar of fire exploded from the ground, its intended target barely evading it. Suddenly, the shrapnel from the explosion slowed and stopped in midair, assembling itself into a jagged missile. Said projectile flew towards the aircraft, absorbing several fireballs only to re-assemble itself after it had been dispersed. The rain of stone shards bounced off the top of the aircraft before splitting into three parts, each converging on the flying machine. Then, a massive blast of fire reduced the projectiles to cinders. As the aircraft turned to leave, the red cloaked girl transformed her scythe, firing several shots at the escaping plane. Every shot was blocked by the mysterious figure's hands. Then the ground lit up, warning the three standing fighters of impending explosions.

The red clad girl and the taller woman jumped backwards, while Onewa leaped forward, swinging his proto pitons. One missed, while the other slammed into the aircraft's engine, destroying it and sending the plane into a spin as it fell out of the sky. A blast of fire from the mysterious figure's hands managed to stabilize the aircraft, the plane gaining altitude before the fire suddenly went out, its conjurer most likely out of energy. The aircraft fell out of the sky, the explosion rocking the building the Toa was standing on.

The figures stood, silent, while Whenua slowly struggled to his feet, regaining his vision. The silence was broken by the small red clad girl.

"You're a huntress..."

The presumed huntress just looked at her.

"Can I have your autograph?" The girl squealed.

* * *

Several minutes later, the Toa found themselves in a dark room lit by a single light, sitting alongside the red clad girl while the huntress paced in front of them.

"Do you three realize that what you did today was not only of a brand of foolishness bordering on suicidal, but also extremely dangerous, not only to yourselves but to the people you were trying to protect?" The huntress shouted.

"You attacked one of the most notorious and dangerous men in Vale, brought down an aircraft over a densely populated urban center, and don't even get me started on you causing an earthquake near a dust shop! Do you realize how many people could have been hurt or even killed by your foolish actions today? That earthquake alone caused several thousand lien in property damage, and the fires from that aircraft crash are still burning! To top it all, the criminal you were hunting managed to evade authorities and is still at large! You accomplished nothing today other than needlessly endanger innocents and cause collateral damage! If it were up to me, I would turn you over to the authorities for disciplining, but alas, someone else here wants to meet you." The huntress stepped aside, allowing a grey haired man in a dark green suit to enter. He had a scroll in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

"Ruby Rose..." He began. The girl he was talking to, presumably Ruby, widened her eyes at the sight of the man. "You have silver eyes." The man finished, causing Ruby to scowl and look away.

"So, where did you three learn to do this?" The man asked, pulling up footage of the battle the three had participated in minutes before.

"Signal Academy..." Ruby answered.

"What about you two?" The man asked. The Toa remained silent. The silence continued for an uncomfortable moment.

"I see." The man said, breaking the tense silence. "So, Ruby. How did you learn how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed? Scythe combat is certainly not part of the standard Signal curriculum."

"My uncle Qrow was a teacher there. I was complete garbage before he took me in, but now thanks to him I'm all like..." The girl then pantomimed combat, complete with ridiculous sound effects, ignoring how the man raised his eyebrow at the mention of Qrow's name.

"So I see. Now, what is a girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well, I want to be a huntress." The girl said.

"So you want to kill monsters." The man said, taking note of how the other two people seated in the room cringed slightly as the man mentioned killing. They both knew that this world was different, and that killing the Grimm was required to keep civilization alive, but it was an unpleasant thought nonetheless to beings who adhered to a strict moral code prohibiting the killing of their enemies.

"Yeah, I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply to Beacon. You see, my sister's starting there this year and she's trying to become a huntress, and I'm trying to become a huntress because I want to help people, and our parents always taught us to help others so I thought 'well, I might as well make a career out of it' well, I mean the police are alright but huntsmen and huntresses are just sooo much more romantic and exciting and cool and-" The man cut her off as she began to babble.

"Do you know who I am?" The man asked.

"You're Professor Ozpin, the headmaster at Beacon." The man gave a slight chuckle.

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you!"

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything!"

The professor glanced at his companion, who grunted in disapproval.

"Well, okay." The man said. Ruby's eyes widened to levels that the two Toa thought to be impossible.

"Now, what about you two? You don't seem to be the average vagrants, seeing as you are much too well equipped for combat. Tell me, what are your names?"

"I am Whenua, and this is Onewa." Whenua introduced himself and his partner. Professor Ozpin raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hmm. Are you by any chance familiar with these individuals?" The professor pulled up four pictures on his scroll, each one of a different person, about the same age as the two Toa.

"What are their names?" Whenua asked.

"Vakama Garnett, Nokama Saphera, Matau Verdaunt, and Nuju Krystall." The professor said, pointing to a red clad, red haired youth, a blue haired girl wearing a blue skirt, a green haired boy with bright red eyes, and a white haired boy with one blue eye, the other replaced by a telescoping red optic.

"I am not sure about the last names, but the first ones I recognize. I assume that you have met them?" Onewa asked.

"Yes. Now, I am assuming that you are the ones that Nuju mentioned when I met him?" The professor said.

"I believe so, unless there are other Onewas and Whenuas running around saving people." Onewa replied.

"Am I also correct in assuming that you wish to re-unite with your teammates?"

"Yes. You are correct." Whenua replied.

"Excellent. The other four have already accepted my offer to attend Beacon academy. Should you choose to do the same, you will be able to meet up with your friends once again, as well as be granted additional resources towards helping you return home. Do you accept this proposal?"

"Well, since the alternative is to be back out on the streets, how could we say no?" Onewa replied.

"Wait. Beacon is a school that trains people to kill. I am not sure if you told the others this fact, but we Toa do not kill unless it is absolutely necessary. Our code forbids it."

"That was along the lines of what Vakama told me. A hunter's job is to protect civilization from the creatures of grimm. Unfortunately, the only way to do so is to kill them. If there was any other way to put a stop to this threat, rest assured that it would have been done centuries ago. Should you accept my offer to attend, you must be prepared to kill the monsters that you will face. However, this is not an excuse to turn on your fellow man. Beacon trains hunters, not murderers. With this in mind, do you still accept?"

"We do." The two Toa replied simultaneously. Whenua noticed that Ruby was watching the exchange with a confused look on her face.

"Excellent. Please report to the airship docks by noon tomorrow. School uniforms and basic supplies will be provided, but anything else will be paid for out of your own pocket. I will fill out the necessary paperwork to get you into the school." Professor Ozpin then turned to leave.

"Goodbye, and good luck in the upcoming years." The professor said, his companion exiting behind him.

* * *

**A/N: There you have it. The first chapter of yet another new story has been finished. Just a few notes related to it: **

**1. There will be OCs, but the story will focus on the Toa Metru and teams RWBY and JNPR. In fact, most OCs I have made up were created just so that the Toas' team names would make sense. OCs may get important roles, but nothing too major. OC teams will most likely keep to the sidelines and provide occasional plot when needed. **

**2. Deviations from canon will most likely be kept to a minimum, but this is a crossover so some deviations are to be expected.**

**3. I ship: Whiterose, Novakama, Arcos, Noren, and possibly Black Sun, but that last one remains to be seen. Other pairings may emerge.**

**4. Any questions about my other stories should be directed either to me via PM or via review AFTER reading my profile to see if it answers said question. I try to read as many reviews as possible and I read every PM that comes my way.**

**5. Once again, I own nothing.**

**6. Constructive criticism is appreciated and will be noted. Flamers can stick their computer in the oven for a few hours for all I care. Flaming disguised as constructive criticism will be politely acknowledged and then burned.**

**7. Last names for Onewa and Whenua, as well as their weapon transformations, are up for grabs. Please post your suggestions in the review section.**

**8. Ideas for number 8 are also appreciated.**

**9. Enjoy the story. An update schedule should be worked out soon and posted on my profile.**

**EDIT: Fixed a small mistake I made and re-uploaded the chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Beacon**

"Hey! You there! I think you bums are on the wrong ship!" The voice of one of the airship's occupants drew the attention of Onewa, Whenua being too engrossed in the history textbook provided to notice.

"Last I checked, this is the airship to Beacon Academy." The Toa of Stone replied.

"Exactly! It's Beacon Academy, not the Beacon Homeless Shelter!" The unnamed boy replied. Onewa growled in annoyance. It wasn't the first time that the Toa's... less than clean looks had drawn negative attention aboard the airship, and it was grating on the Stone Toa's nerves.

"Look, we're here via a personal invitation from Ozpin himself, so why don't you just leave us alone?"

"Yeah, and I'm Mr. Schnee in disguise. Just get off the ship, this joke got old really fast."

With that, Onewa snapped. Activating his Kanohi Komau, he took control of the boy's mind. It was surprisingly easy, as the boy was rather dimwitted. Although, to be fair, it was quite easy to tell from the kid's haircut alone.

In a matter of moments, the kid had stripped to his boxers and was singing 'I'm a little teapot', while doing a ridiculous dance that Onewa had seen some children performing in one of the parks around Vale.

Eventually, the entertainment value wore off and Onewa cut the mental connection. The boy stopped, panting from exhaustion.

"I've got mind control powers. Don't mess with me." The Toa of Stone whispered as he walked away, Whenua offering a look of sympathy as he followed his stone counterpart. After all, the boy hadn't been the only one ever subjected to the Kanohi Komau's power.

The two Toa resumed their search for their counterparts aboard the airship, this time getting a lot less negative attention, although Onewa drew some nervous looks from the crowd.

"... The robbery was led by notorious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information relating to his whereabouts, please contact the Vale police department. Back to you, Lisa!" The sound of a news broadcast drew Whenua's attention. The holo screen briefly showed a picture of a younger, scruffier, and roughed up Roman Torchwick.

"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, the recent Faunus civil rights protest turned dark after members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. It was later found out that the disruption was used to distract law enforcement in order to allow a White Fang force to break into the Vale City penitentiary, leading to the escape of several highly dangerous criminals, including the recently interred Adam Taurus. The once peaceful organization has turned increasingly violent-" The holoscreen changed into a projection of the huntress the two Toa had encountered the day before while fighting Torchwick.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." With that, the woman's holographic form faded.

"Look! You can see Signal from up here!" A familiar voice called out, causing Onewa's head to turn towards the source.

Ruby Rose stood there, hands pressed against one of the airship's many windows. A taller girl with a mane of long golden hair walked up behind her. The taller girl placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder, saying something that Onewa couldn't quite hear. The two Toa walked up to the pair.

"Hey, Ruby, have you seen anyone named 'Vakama Garnett' around here?" Onewa asked.

"Huh?" The girls spun around, eyes on the two boys approaching them. "Oh, hey Onewa! No, I haven't seen anyone named Vakama, but I'll keep an eye out." Ruby said.

"Who are these guys, sis?" The taller, golden haired girl asked.

"Oh, right! I never got a chance to tell you! Yang, meet Onewa and Whenua." Ruby replied.

"How did you meet them, and is there anything going on between you three?" Yang asked.

"Yang! There's nothing 'going on' between us! They just helped me fight Torchwick last night!"

"Torchwick? As in Roman Torchwick? When were you planning to tell me that you had a run in with one of the most wanted men in Vale!"

"I never had the chance to!" Ruby said, but Yang's attention had already shifted back to the newcomers.

"So, Onewa and Whenua, is it? Your names sound pretty similar. Are you guys brothers or something?" She asked.

"We're not brothers, just friends. Have you seen anyone named Matau or Nuju, by any chance?"

"Are they friends of yours?"

"Yeah."

Yang's response was cut short by the sound of groaning. The four students looked around to see a blonde haired boy wearing white armor over a black hoodie begin to make gagging noises as motion sickness took hold. The boy sprinted off to find a trash can, but didn't make it in time, spraying vomit all over the floor.

"Eww, Yang, you have puke on your shoe!" Ruby screamed.

"Grossgrossgrossgrossgross!" Another nearby boy began to scream, as the boy who threw up tried to find a trash can before a second wave of vomit would exit his mouth.

"Getawayfrommegetawayfrommegetawayfromme!" Ruby continued to scream as the boy stumbled towards her.

Whenua looked up from his book, distracted by all the commotion. Spotting the vomiting boy, he walked over and smacked the boy upside the head with the history textbook. The boy took the hint and stumbled off, while Yang got the vomit off her shoe. The two girls sprinted away from the vomit puddle, while the toa walked calmly in a different direction.

A few minutes later, the airship pulled up next to the Beacon docks, and the students poured out. Whenua saw 'Vomit Boy' running out of the ship, disgorging his remaining stomach contents into a conveniently placed trash can.

Whenua scanned the crowd exiting the airship, looking for any other Toa. He soon spotted Nuju's telescoping optic, and motioned to his partner, indicating his find.

The two Toa made their way towards the area where Whenua spotted his icy teammate.

* * *

Vakama gasped in awe as he laid eyes on Beacon Academy. While it was far from being the largest structure that the Toa had ever seen, its unusual aesthetic gave it an appeal of its own. He unknowingly took Nokama's hand in his own, his teammate making no objection towards the gesture.

A nearby explosion ruined the moment.

Vakama's head spun around, seeing a white clad girl, screaming at another girl who was wearing a black skirt and a red hood. A glint showed a tiny vial of dust spinning away from the pair. It spun through the air, before landing at the feet of... Vakama stiffened in shock.

A black haired girl, wearing a black bow in her hair, picked up the vial. It was the girl from the train.

Nokama recognized her as well, judging by her short gasp. They watched the girl walk towards the white and red pair, carrying the vial in her hand. Vakama activated his Kanohi Huna, its power extending to Nokama through physical contact. They walked up behind the black and white clad girl, listening in on her conversation.

"... heiress, actually. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company." Vakama's ears perked up at the mention of the company. "One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

"Finally! Some recognition!" The white clad girl said, smugly.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The girl in black continued, much to the the chagrin of 'Weiss'.

"What? How dare- The nerve of..." The heiress spluttered, while the smaller red clad girl giggled. Weiss snatched the vial of dust out of the black haired girl's hand before storming away.

"Are we interrupting something here?" Vakama asked, dropping the cloak. The red cloaked girl let out a startled squeak, while the black haired one turned around, gasping at the sight of the two fighters she had encountered on the train.

"Wha- What are you doing here?" The black haired girl asked, her voice taking on a much higher, more panicked tone.

"We just wanted to talk." Nokama replied, steering Blake away from the other girl. Her voice was pleasant on the surface, but held a hidden edge.

After checking for anyone listening in, the black haired girl spoke.

"If this is about the White Fang, I am no longer affiliated with them."

"I don't care about your affiliation. What I care about is the fact that you almost killed my partner." Nokama replied, steel creeping into her voice.

"Why do you think I left? I joined the White Fang back when it was a peaceful organization, dedicated to bringing equality between Faunus and Humanity! I left because I didn't want to use my skills for needless bloodshed any longer."

"Judging by your skill, that was not your first time seeing combat. Why did you only leave now?" Vakama asked.

"I have never killed anyone. I did not like how the White Fang was stealing from and attacking companies that treated Faunus poorly, but it got results, so I went along with it. However, when Adam, my oldest friend in the organization, asked me to kill you, I decided that I had enough. We get nothing but hatred if we stoop to the level of the monsters our enemies think we are." Blake replied.

"You still didn't answer my question. Why are you here, at Beacon?" Nokama asked.

"I guess that I wanted to atone for what I did. I want to put my skills to good use by becoming a huntress."

"Hey fire-spitter!" The voice interjected into the conversation. Vakama looked around for the source, spying a green haired, red eyed boy wearing a brown, open vest over a green shirt.

"Matau? Is that you?" Vakama asked.

"The one and only!" The Toa of Air zipped over, a white haired boy with a telescoping optic replacing one of his eyes following close by.

"It's good to see you two again!" Vakama said as Nuju, dressed in a white overcoat, walked over, arms crossed.

"Likewise." Nuju replied curtly.

"What about us?" Another voice sounded out from nearby.

"Onewa?' Nokama asked.

"Whenua's here too." Onewa replied.

The six Toa Metru gathered in a circle, exchanging greetings. Then, as one, their fists all came together.

"It's good to have you all back." Vakama said.

"Likewise!" Onewa said. Blake and Ruby watched the events unfold, confusion apparent on their faces. Nuju caught sight of the two.

"Ruby I know, but who's the other one?" He asked.

"Oh, she's Blake. Nokama and I had a... run in with her shortly after we arrived." Vakama replied.

"I don't want to ruin the moment, but shouldn't we be going somewhere?" Blake asked the group.

"She's right. We can save the reunion party for after the induction ceremony." Nokama said.

Slowly, the group proceeded into an auditorium. It was already filling up, with new students walking in every second.

"Ruby! Here! I saved you a spot!" Yang's voice rang out, drawing Ruby away from the group. Blake drifted away shortly afterward. The Toa sat down two rows behind where Ruby was being confronted by a certain white clad heiress. After a few seconds of continuous speech on the girl's part, Nuju's optic began to twitch.

"Matau, cyclone." The Toa of Ice growled to the green haired boy next to him.

Two rows ahead of him, Weiss Schnee yelped as a particularly powerful gust of wind sent her flying several feet into the air. She faceplanted in the spot where she was standing earlier several seconds later.

The squeak of a microphone stopped the surrounding students from laughing. Professor Ozpin cleared his voice.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

The professor stepped away from the microphone, while Glynda took his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." The huntress said, simply, before walking away.

"Is it just me, or did the man seem a little... detached from reality?" Whenua asked.

"That he did. It's probably because he's given the same speech many times before. Trust me, I've done the same back in Ga-metru, and Mata Nui knows I've become slightly detached over the years." Nokama said.

"You look-seem just fine to me, Water-sister." Matau said.

"You know what I mean, Matau." Nokama replied.

The students left the room, heading their separate ways. The Toa proceeded to the locker room, where they would store their weapons when they were not in use. It felt strange, relinquishing the weapons that the Toa had kept by their side ever since they first picked them up in the Great Temple. Nonetheless, they still placed their weapons in their lockers.

About an hour later, dinner was served. It garnered different reactions from each Toa. Vakama and Nokama stared at it as if it were par for the course, Onewa and Whenua, on the other hand, stared at it with eager anticipation, although Whenua made an attempt to keep himself composed. Nuju looked at it with detached interest, while Matau was testing out the aerodynamic properties of some of the fruit present, hurling tomatoes at Yang, who managed to catch them all in her mouth regardless of how hard Matau attempted to curve them with air manipulation.

"Would you all stop staring at your food and just eat? It's kinda freaking me out." A certain scraggly haired blonde boy who was sitting at the same table said.

"Yeah, whatever. Just try not to throw your meal up all over us, Vomit boy." Onewa replied.

"Hey, my name's Jaune Arc, not vomit boy, and I only threw up because of motion sickness, which is not a problem here!" Jaune Arc replied.

"So how are you finding Beacon, Jaune?" Vakama asked.

"I don't know, it's just so much for me to take in, ya know? I mean, I don't really know anyone here all that well, what with none of my old friends being here."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make new friends here." Nokama said.

"Yeah. After all, my mother always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, and this school is full of strangers."

"Hey, do you mind if we sit here?" A new voice cut into the conversation. Vakama turned to see a group of three students, two girls and a boy, each carrying a tray of food.

"Feel free. There's plenty of room after all." The Toa of fire replied.

"Thanks. I'm Tigris, by the way. Tigris Black." The boy, who had a pair of thin orange stripes in his hair, said.

"Pleasure to meet you." Onewa said.

"What are your names?" Nokama asked the two girls.

"I'm Layla and she's Robyn." Layla, the taller of the two girls, said. Both girls, however, were rather short, and Vakama noticed that Robyn had black feathers mixed in with her hair.

"Did you three know each other before coming to Beacon?" Whenua asked.

"Yeah, Robyn's my sister, and we know Layla from our time at Flagstaff academy." Tigris answered.

"Are those feathers in Robyn's hair?" Nuju asked.

"Yeah, Tigris and I are faunus. I'm surprised that you guys haven't made any comments regarding that fact." Robyn said.

"Were we supposed to? I mean, faunus are people just like us, after all. Just because you have differently shaped ears or a tail doesn't make you lesser beings or anything." Jaune said.

"Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn't seem to see it that way. I wish it were so, but most humans seem to think of us as little more than animals, and the White Fang does nothing to disprove the stereotype." Tigris replied.

"Nokama and I had a run-in with the White Fang while on a train on business. Their intentions are noble, but their methods of carrying them out are counter-productive." Vakama said.

"I knew I recognized you two from somewhere! You two were the ones that caught Adam Taurus! Your pictures were all over the news for a couple of days!" Layla piped up.

"That was you? Damn, you two must be good fighters to even have stood a chance against him! Where did you get your skills?" Tigris asked.

"The six of us all trained at Spotlight Academy. That's how we all know each other." Nokama said, remembering the falsified transcripts that Ozpin had given to them.

"Spotlight? Never heard of it, but it must be good." Robyn said.

"So what do you guys know about initiation? I heard that you have to wrestle Ursi, but my sources aren't all that reliable." Layla asked.

"You're wrong. I read the school handbook that they gave out after the speech, and it's not that." Whenua replied.

"School handbook?" Everyone else at the table asked at once.

"Yeah, Goodwitch gave it out after she finished speaking. Apparently, they drop you into the Emerald Forest to recover relics. It mentioned something about a 'landing strategy', which I assume is the method you use to slow your fall, as the handbook mentioned nothing about parachutes." Whenua replied. Jaune noticeably gulped.

"So, how are we dropped?" He asked.

"It says something about a cannon." Nuju deadpanned, having used his optic to scan the book. Apparently the prosthetic possessed its own form of X-ray vision in this universe.

"WHAT?" Everyone at the table shouted, drawing a few odd looks.

"He's joking. It's actually a catapult." Whenua replied.

"Not funny." Jaune said.

"No, really. You are catapulted into the forest via a spring loaded plate." Whenua said. Jaune groaned.

"What am I supposed to do, then? All I've got is a hand-me-down sword and shield! I never trained for this!"

"That's what friends are for. I'm sure Vakama could catch you, his disc launcher does double as a jetpack after all, and Matau can manipulate air currents, so he could slow your fall." Nokama said.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't want to force myself into a possible partnership with you and drag you guys down with me." Jaune replied.

"Jaune! Don't put yourself down so much, you remind me of Vakama back in the day! You're at this school because the instructors obviously thought that you had what it takes to succeed here. If you weren't able to complete the test, you wouldn't be sitting here, talking to me, period. Now lift up your chin, and take pride in the fact that you are here at this academy!" Nokama said. Jaune did exactly as she said, a smile slowly forming on his face. Only Nuju caught the brief flash of guilt that came before the smile.

Soon, dinner ended and the students went their separate ways once more.

* * *

After the sun set, the Beacon initiates gathered in the ballroom, carrying various bits of sleeping equipment. Vakama and Nokama had already changed into a pair of red pajamas and a light blue nightgown respectively. Nuju and Matau had their own sets of night clothes, but Onewa and Whenua did not. Thankfully, Nokama had bought some spares for herself and Vakama, and had generously given them to the two Toa in need. Whenua had begrudgingly accepted Nokama's spare, although the glowing pendant around Onewa's neck may have had something to do with that decision. He put on the grey nightgown in a dark corner before quickly hiding himself in his sleeping bag. Unfortunately for him, a certain blonde girl had already taken several pictures of him with her scroll.

Matau had flown up to the ceiling of the room, stringing up his bedroll to form a crude hammock in the rafters. His motivation for doing so was revealed shortly afterwards as various fruits began to fly down from said hammock with near perfect accuracy.

Nokama watched several boys attempt to show off their rather inadequate musculature with disinterest. The monotony of the scene was broken by Jaune Arc walking across the room, wearing a set of pajamas that Nokama had only ever seen in the little kids' section of the stores she had visited.

The boy winked a Yang, who was lying on a bedroll a few feet away from her. Just as Jaune was walking away though, a banana flew down from above with near perfect accuracy, sending the blonde haired boy sprawling.

Nokama looked up to see Matau's grinning face leaning out of the hammock that he had strung up. Said face was hit by a pillow shortly afterward, courtesy of a student with a particularly good throwing arm.

As this was Beacon, the situation quickly devolved into a free-for-all pillow crossfire.

Nuju had been the one who threw the pillow, and that had made him a target in the rapidly escalating conflict. Several fluffy pillows flew towards him, each one unique in its own way. Activating his Kanohi Matatu, he telekinetically stopped each and every one of the soft projectiles, the pillows hovering in the air around him. Then, they all flew outward simultaneously, knocking everyone around him off their feet, including a certain invisible Toa of Fire.

Nuju looked across the room, spotting Onewa building himself a fort using his enemies' ammunition. Nuju also noted that the Toa of Stone had torn up the floorboards in his sleeping space, using the planks to build a makeshift catapult. The Toa of Ice sprinted towards the fortification, hunkering down next to his stone counterpart. Just then, the Toa of Stone fired his contraption, sending a veritable tide of pillows at those that would besiege fort... did the pillow fort even have a name?

Nuju continued pondering that particular great thought as he used his telekinesis to stop incoming fire, redirecting incoming pillows at the enemy.

Suddenly, with a loud '**SMACK!',** a pillow hit him in the back of the head, sending Nuju to the ground. The Ice toa looked around for the source, only to see a grinning Vakama raising the fluffy weapon for another strike. That was when Nuju dropped the telekinetic field protecting the fort, causing a storm of pillows to slam into the startled fire toa. Vakama fell into the catapult, just as Onewa fired it once again. The fire toa was sent flying across the room, right towards a certain golden haired girl. Yang deflected two incoming pillows with powerful punches, raising her leg for a kick just as Vakama came into range.

The blow hitting him in the stomach, Vakama flew back towards the fort he had just been ejected from, slamming into the catapult. The result was an explosion of pillows and broken planks flying everywhere. Vakama groaned, before succumbing to the embrace of unconsciousness. He missed the battle's stunning conclusion.

A boy wearing a green tailcoat with a stripe of pink in his hair was caught in crossfire, a telekinetically redirected pillow waking him from his slumber. A red haired girl sleeping next to him suddenly stood up, rage apparent on her face.

"**NOBODY HITS MY REN WITH A PILLOW BUT ME!" **The girl screamed, as the boy, Ren, groaned and tried unsuccessfully to fall back asleep. The girl leaped towards Onewa and Nuju's pillow fort, only to take a cat-shaped pillow while in transit. Getting up from the ground, she looked around for the thrower. Her eyes fell on Ruby and narrowed in rage while Ruby smiled sheepishly.

Needless to say, Ruby wouldn't be getting up for the rest of the night.

Finishing with her first victim, Nora Valkyrie raised her weapon, a giant sloth shaped plushie, and charged the pillow fort. Said fort was now occupied by a whole lot more people than just the Toa of ice and stone. Spinning the stuffed sloth, Nora deflected the hail of pillows that were desperately thrown at her.

"**BOW BEFORE QUEEN NORA! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE NOW!" **Nora cackled as she leaped into the air, slamming down into the middle of the fort, sending pillows, students, and catapult remains flying. Most students were knocked out by the impact with the floor. The remaining few, Nuju and Onewa included, shakily rose for one final stand. At least, it would have been an epic final stand if it weren't for a pillow to slam into Nora from above, knocking her out.

"You may be the Queen, but I'm the true king!" Matau shouted triumphantly, before several telekinetically thrown pillows smacked into him and his exposed hammock. With Matau dealt with, the remaining students laid down their weapons and either collapsed from exhaustion or stumbled back to their beds.

In her chair at the edge of the room, Blake looked up from her book.

"Oh..." Was all that she could say as she beheld the scene before her. She turned and blew out the candles next to her, walking over to her bedroll.

Glynda Goodwitch was not at all pleased when she later walked into the room to ensure the students had fallen asleep.

* * *

**A/N: It's a much shorter chapter this time around, as there wasn't as much to fit in this time around. Originally, I planned to combine this one with initiation, but it would have taken forever to get ready and I have other fics to update as well.**

**Next chapter will be composed of Initiation, team formation, and will introduce another character brought in from the Bionicleverse. Specifically a dark hunter. No more information will be given out about her. **

**In addition, one OC from each of the Toas' future teams has been introduced. Namely Tigris, Layla, and Robyn. Weapon-wise, I've already decided on their loadouts, and their weapons will be revealed next chapter. Hopefully my imagination didn't fail me when I was dreaming them up. **

**Enjoy the new chapter. Nora commands you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Initiation**

Vakama groaned as he woke up. He felt himself lying on a hard, wooden floor, and his body ached because of it. Standing up, he saw the rest of the room in disarray, with pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and the occasional banana lying all over the floor. The students, rather than be arranged in neat rows of bedrolls, were scattered around on the floor, with only a few sleeping in their intended areas.

Several other students were in various states of wakefulness. A bright ginger haired girl was standing over the face of a green clothed, black haired boy, who was slowly waking up as well.

A loud groan came from the ceiling, causing Vakama to look up. He saw a groggy Matau waking up, standing up in the middle of his hammock. Of course, in his current state, he was unaware of his surroundings and promptly fell out of his makeshift sleeping arrangement, slamming loudly into the ground, promptly knocking himself out once again.

The loud noise caused by Matau's fall woke many of the surrounding students, including the rest of the Toa. Whenua stretched awake, unaware of the fact that he was wearing Nokama's spare nightgown. The giggling of several girls alerted him to the fact, causing him to quickly cover himself up again while he headed to the changing rooms.

Vakama made his way to the changing rooms, carrying his clothes with him. He took a quick shower, putting his clothes on afterward. Emerging, he packed up his sleeping equipment, before heading down to the dining hall. He saw the ginger haired girl practically inhale a pancake while talking all the while to her black haired friend. He saw Nokama sitting at a table to the far right of where he was standing. He walked up to the table after getting his breakfast, sitting down beside her.

"Look who finally got out of bed! How did you sleep?" She asked.

"Ugh, I feel like a Kikanalo just ran over me." Vakama replied.

"Not surprising considering what happened to you in that pillow fight. Yang kicked you straight in the stomach after you got shot at her by catapult." Nokama chuckled.

"Tell me about it. My back aches right now." Vakama grimaced as his back gave a twinge of pain.

"Oh, I may be able to do something about that. Stand still." Nokama ordered, before emptying her glass of water, the water inside of it forming a sphere between her hands as she stood up.

A water Toa's healing capabilities came from her ability to manipulate the water inside a Toa's body, more specifically, the body's organic components. Ordinarily, a Toa did not have a significant amount of water in his or her body, necessitating an outside source of water to heal wounds with maximum efficiency, but the new organic bodies contained plenty more water for Nokama to manipulate. However, an outside source of water was still useful.

The sphere of water came to rest on Vakama's back, feeling more like a soft pillow than a liquid, as Nokama's control was such that the water didn't soak into his clothing. The water began to shift, slowly massaging Vakama's back, while the water inside his body began to be manipulated as well, although on a much smaller scale. Slowly, tension was released, aches and pains subsided, and a pleasant feeling began to seep through his body. Just as he began to make outward signs of ecstasy though, the feeling subsided, Nokama having ended her healing session. Disposing of the water, Nokama sat back down beside him, going back to her meal. Manipulating the maple syrup, she quickly and thoroughly soaked each individual pancake with the sugary substance before eating it. Matau stumbled into the room shortly afterward, Nuju and Onewa following him. Finally, Whenua entered the room looking thoroughly embarrassed.

They ate their breakfast in relative silence, before leaving to their equipment lockers. Once there, Vakama saw Ruby and Yang having a conversation, the younger of the two cradling her weapon in her arms. Vakama walked up to locker 159 and opened it, revealing his disc launcher, his armor, and his supply of Kanoka discs. He put his armor on, fastened his disc launcher to his back, and put the disc satchel where it could be easily accessed.

"Hey Vak!" A familiar voice came from beside him. Looking around, he saw a familiar girl opening the locker beside his.

"Good morning Layla." Vakama said, just as the girl withdrew a MASSIVE sword, which had to be at least as tall as she was, from the locker, followed by a set of armor. Noticing Vakama's stare, she explained how it worked.

"The blade's lightened with dust, otherwise I wouldn't be able to move it, much less chop up a beowulf with it." She said. "It can transform too, but that's not important right now."

"Ah." Vakama said.

"So, who do you want to team up with?" She asked.

"I don't know, I was hoping to pair up with my friends from Spotlight." Vakama replied.

"That's nice, I guess. You don't really happy about all this, though. Is everything allright?" Layla asked.

"It's just... I'm nervous, that's all." Vakama replied.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. They wouldn't put us through this if they didn't think we'd survive."

"I suppose you're right."

"Well, it was nice talking to you!" Layla said, noticing one of her friends waving to her. She waved a quick goodbye, before rushing off, her sword fastened securely on her back.

* * *

Nokama gave her hydro blades an experimental twirl before shifting them into their double edged trident form. Nodding in approval, she reverted the weapons into their original form before heading out towards the exit. On her way out, she passed by the white haired heiress she had seen the day before. Said girl was talking to another girl, this one with bright red hair, wearing an unusual set of brown leather chest armor, a golden headdress, and a short red skirt.

"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought to who's team you would like to be on?" The heiress asked. "I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself." The other girl shifted slightly.

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure. I was planning on just letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha replied.

"Well, maybe, I was thinking that we could be on a team together." White replied.

"Well that sounds grand!" Pyrrha replied.

"Great!" The white haired girl replied, before suddenly turning around, a scheming look on her face. Several silent seconds later, the expression changed again, although the same thought remained, and Nokama swore that black stormclouds were gathering around the girl as she silently continued to strike evil poses. Nokama raised an eyebrow at the heiress' unusual behavior, while Pyrrha just looked concerned.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc! Nice to meet you!" A blonde haired boy in white armor with a sword at his side broke the white haired heiress out of her thoughts, the stormclouds dissipating.

"Ugh, you again?" The girl asked, disgust clear in her voice.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha said, genuinely.

"Yeah yeah." Jaune said, pushing Pyrrha out of the way. "So, Weiss, I couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day!"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Weiss replied.

"No need to be embarrassed. So, I've been hearing rumors about teams~. I was thinking you and me would make a good one! What do you say?" Jaune asked, leaning in close.

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" Pyrrha began, but Jaune cut her off.

"You don't say. Well hot stuff, maybe if you play your cards right, you may join up with the winning team!" Jaune sang.

"What do you mean by winning team? I didn't know we were competing." Nokama asked.

"There's no competition per se, but in various school events and tournaments, we tend to fight in team battles against other teams." Weiss answered, before turning to Jaune.

"As for you, Jaune is it? Do you have any idea whom you are talking to?" She continued.

"Not in the slightest, snow angel." Jaune said, leaning in close once again.

"This is Pyrrha." Weiss began.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha interjected.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum."

"Never heard of it." Jaune replied.

"She's won the Mistral regional tournaments four years in a row, a new record!"

"The what?"

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss shouted, waving her arms. Jaune gasped.

"That's you? They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" Jaune exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrrha replied.

"So, after hearing that, do you really think you are in the position to ask her to be on her team?" Weiss asked.

"I guess not..." Jaune said, crestfallen.

"Do you really think that you are in the position to tell him who he can and cannot ask onto his team?" Nokama confronted Weiss.

"Wha? What do you mean?" Weiss spluttered.

"I look at Jaune and I see someone who may not be the most skilled fighter, or the most cunning strategist, but he is someone who knows this and accepts this as a flaw that he can now fix! I would take him as a teammate over you any day!" Nokama scolded.

"You- What?" Jaune asked, confused.

"From what I have seen of you so far, Weiss, you seem to be nothing more than a spoiled girl who believes herself to be perfect because she had gotten lucky. Your belief in your perfection hinders your ability to correct the hundreds of flaws that rest directly under your nose!" Nokama continued.

"You, you dare!"

"Yes, I dare! Your caustic personality would almost certainly negatively impact the dynamics of any team that you are part of, so I suggest that you stop acting like you are above everyone else here because you are not! You are a student here, just like Jaune and me, so start acting like it!" The water toa finished.

"Hmph!" Weiss turned, and walked out of the room, her rapier at her side.

"Thanks, Nokama. At least someone here doesn't think of me as a complete idiot." Jaune said, despondently.

"Don't worry, Jaune. As I said before, you may not be the strongest fighter, or the smartest tactician, but you know this, and you must now strive to overcome these flaws. All you need now is confidence in your ability to do so. Now come on, initiation starts soon." Nokama said, before walking out of the room. Just as she was about to exit, the announcement came.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately." Glynda Goodwitch announced over the P.A.

"That's us. Let's get going." Nokama heard Onewa say.

The students exited the building, coming to a stop outside near the edge of a giant cliff.

"If you would all select a plate and stand on it, that would be grand." Glynda said, as she and Ozpin walked out. Nokama walked up to her plate, standing on the stone square. Looking to one side, she saw Vakama, while on the other side she saw Jaune. Beyond the blonde haired boy, Ruby stood, clutching her weapon.

"Psst, Jaune! Remember your landing strategy!" Nokama said, just as Ozpin began to speak.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin began.

"Now, I am sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today." Glynda continued. Nokama heard Ruby groan.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin said.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin finished.

"What?" Ruby gasped.

"After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die." Jaune audibly gulped at that.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of our initiation, but our own instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and then return to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions? Good." Ozpin said, not giving anyone enough time to ask. "Now, take your positions."

Nokama readied her hydro blades. She saw Vakama check his disc launcher, making sure it was fastened securely around his back. Matau put his Aero Slicers on his back, while Whenua combined his drills into one. She saw Onewa combine his proto-pitons into one, the weapons shifting to form a weapon that Nokama was unfamiliar with, while Nuju simply took a stance with his Crystal spikes. Looking to her other side, she saw Jaune unfold his shield and raise his sword, nervousness clear in his posture.

Then, the launch pads began to activate, sending student after student plummeting away into the forest. Soon, it was Jaune's turn, and then it was hers.

* * *

Vakama felt the pad underneath him activate, before he went flying out across the sea of trees far below him. Vakama made one last check to make sure his disc launcher was secure, before he activated its jetpack function. Twin jets of flame roared out of the launcher, and Vakama began to truly fly, leaving a trail of fire behind him. As he flew, he felt the wind buffet his face, he saw the forest pass by beneath him, he heard Ruby scream 'Birdie NOOOOO!' as she steamrolled an innocent bird out of the sky, Vakama looked around at that last part and saw Ruby using her weapon's recoil to slow her fall. Vakama decided to fly a little longer, before he touched down on the branch of a particularly large tree. Loading a Freeze disc into his launcher, he scanned for targets. He found none, so he transformed his weapon into its battleaxe form, leaping down from the tree to the ground. Landing, he began to walk through the forest, weapon at the ready.

A low growl alerted him to the presence of Grimm. Spinning around, the Toa of Fire saw two large Ursa bears emerge from the undergrowth, their eyes filled with killing intent. Vakama raised his battleaxe, ready to defend himself, when a loud scream alerted him to a falling student. The scream got louder and louder until with a loud meaty 'SMACK!', a long spear protruded from the chest of one of the two grimm. Taking advantage of the other grimm being distracted, Vakama leaped forward, igniting the rockets on his axe, delivering a powerful blow, one strong enough to stun an angry Kane-Ra bull, to the side of the Ursa. However, rather than being biomechanical, the Ursa was made of softer, organic parts, and the axe sliced the Grimm bear in two. The creature began to dissipate into smoke as it fell, its corpse slowly evaporating.

Vakama's eyes widened as he stared at his handiwork. He knew that he needed to be willing to kill in order to stay at the academy, but knowing and doing were two different things. The knowledge of the necessity to do so was easy to deal with, but the fact that he had killed with his own two hands was something else entirely.

"Hey, nice job taking down that ursa! Now, could you help me get my spear out of this thing?" The voice of the other ursa's killer shook Vakama out of his thoughts.

"Sure." Vakama said absentmindedly. He walked over to the boy, who was struggling to pull his long spear out of he Ursa's corpse. Vakama grabbed onto it, and together the two pulled, the weapon coming out with a sickening squelch. The two students tumbled back, landing side by side. As they stood, green eyes met yellow ones.

"So, partner, I'm Arete Hill, from Sanctum. Who are you?" The boy, a brown haired youth, asked.

"Vakama Garnett, from Spotlight. I suppose that we are partners." Vakama replied.

"Great! Let's get going. I'm sure that Ozpin won't want to be kept waiting." Arete said, the shaft of his spear unrolling like a scroll of paper to form a large tower shield. The boy drew a second weapon, a short sword, from a sheath at his hip.

"So, do you know which way we're supposed to go?" Arete asked.

"North." Vakama replied, pointing in the intended direction. The two boys began to walk, talking among themselves as they did so.

* * *

Nokama extended one of her hydro blades, the weapon catching the trunk of a tree. Swinging around, Nokama extended her second weapon, catching it on another tree, while retracting her other blade. In this manner, Nokama made her way down to the forest floor, landing silently on the ground near the edge of a lake. Above her, a whoop of joy turned into a scream of terror as a student realized that he or she was on a collision course with the lake. As Nokama watched, a student slammed into the center of the lake at high speed. Nokama then realized that the student, who was wearing heavy armor, wound be unable to swim back up to the surface. If something did not happen soon, the water toa realized, she would watch a fellow student drown.

Nokama jumped into the water without hesitating, accelerating herself towards the area where she saw the student fall. Soon, she caught sight of her quarry, a girl wearing heavy armor and carrying a giant sword. As she grabbed onto the sinking girl, Nokama felt her start to struggle, and as she watched, the girl attempted to shout, only to find herself with a lungful of water.

Just as Nokama thought that her situation couldn't get any worse, a black tentacle reached up from the deep, wrapping itself around the girl's ankle. With a single strike of her weapon, Nokama severed the tentacle, but more were reaching up from below. Using a jet of water, Nokama sent the girl, who was now fluctuating between consciousness and unconsciousness, accelerating towards the surface. At her current speed and direction, the girl should be deposited into the shallows near the lake's edge.

Now, readying her weapons, Nokama turned to face her foe. Although she was a toa of water, she could not stay under forever. Only someone with a mask of underwater breathing could stay underwater indefinitely, and Nokama's mask power was translation. Granted, she could stay under for several minutes at a time, but she couldn't last forever. A tentacle wrapped around her foot, and Nokama severed it. The appendage began to release a black, inky liquid, before it reformed into two smaller tentacles. Suddenly, a low roar sounded through the water, and the monster attached to the tentacles made its presence known. Two small, beady eyes, glowing red, with a series of bone white plates armoring its body, the Kraken roared at Nokama once more. Activating her mask power, the water toa attempted to make sense of what the beast was saying. It roared again.

**"DIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" **It gurgled, its voice deep and terrifying. It was then that Nokama knew that there would be no reasoning with the creature. All hostile rahi that she had encountered before would always ask trespassers to leave their territory first before attacking. Even after attacking, they would still continue to ask their targets to leave rather than simply shout death threats.

Shifting her weapon into trident form, she fired one of the harpoons, impaling the creature in the soft tissue surrounding its hard beak. Roaring in pain, the creature redoubled its attempts to catch the Toa, every tentacle sprouting long barbed hooks from their ends. The net of bone white razor hooks descended on the water Toa, who sliced through them. A sickly green fluid leaked from the severed hooks, most likely poison of some kind. Then, the tentacles came for her once more, and Nokama began to slice through them once more, only for each severed tentacle to split and regrow. Soon, Nokama was swimming for her life, the storm of tentacles following her. Breaching the surface, Nokama flew briefly through the air, carried by momentum. She saw the girl standing, leaning on her sword. Then, the tentacles began to breach the surface, and the girl's eyes widened, briefly making contact with Nokama's. The girl's sword shifted, its blade splitting lengthwise in two, each piece curving into a semi-circle, before coming together to form a long tube. The hilt moved up on the weapon, extending into a trigger. The long tube like weapon fired a swarm of tiny rockets just as Nokama went back underwater, hydro blades at ready. A series of blasts startled her, as the rockets detonated underwater, taking chunks out of the tentacle swarm. The damaged tentacles stopped moving as they began to regenerate, giving Nokama the opportunity she needed. Jetting downward, she shifted her weapons into trident form, accelerating as she closed with the center of the Kraken. Her weapon struck soft flesh. Nokama looked around as she plunged through the beast, seeing one of its eyes staring straight at her. Nokama activated her mask of translation as the beast bellowed in pain.

"**DDDIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" **It gurgled once more, although pain now laced the terrible voice. Nokama continued to plunge through the beast, eventually exiting through the other side. The Kraken, now dead, began to dissipate. Nokama swam up to the edge of the lake, where the other girl waited with her rocket launcher. Nokama stood at the edge of the lake, catching her breath. Then, she took a look at the girl she had just saved. The girl had light ginger hair, with brown eyes. A familiar combination.

"Layla?" Nokama asked.

"Nokama? You were the one that saved me?" Layla asked.

"Yes. I couldn't just let you dro-" Nokama was cut off as Layla embraced her in a tight hug.

"Oh my dust, thank you, thank you, thank you!" The girl shouted, her arms locked around her new partner. Nokama quickly removed the water from their clothes, drying them off.

"So, I guess this makes us partners?" Layla asked.

"That it does. Let's get moving, so we can find the relic and get out of this forest." Nokama said. The two of them began walking north, Nokama supporting her exhausted teammate.

* * *

Whenua held his combined drills out in front of him as he plummeted towards the ground. While most of the other students were using their weapon recoil to slow their fall, he was different. A tree trunk loomed out in front of him, closing rapidly until finally, Whenua's drills ripped through the hard wood of the tree, carrying their wielder through. This process continued for several trees, each tree collapsing behind the falling Toa, until Whenua was moving at a slow enough speed to safely land. Breaking his fall with a roll, Whenua stood up and began to move through the forest at a leisurely pace.

A loud thump alerted the earth toa of a student landing nearby. Looking around, Whenua saw a tall boy wearing a dark green trenchcoat standing in a clearing, having just gotten up. A loud growl alerted Whenua to a large pack of beowulves coming out of the undergrowth, surrounding both himself and the unknown boy. Whenua moved in close to the other initiate, separating his drills into two separate units. Then, he activated the form shift. The drills collapsed into a longer, thinner form, while the teeth repositioned themselves.

Lifting the two newly formed chainsaws, Whenua revved the motors on the two weapons, daring any Beowulf to come closer.

The other boy looked around, noticing his ally, before taking out his own weapon, a long chain. On one end, the chain ended in a long blade, while the other ended in a heavy weight. Each link of chain suddenly sprouted a pair of long wicked looking spikes. Then, the wielder flourished the weapon, wielding it like a whip.

With a loud howl, the first beowulf charged, with the rest of the pack following. Whenua's chainsaws roared as the Earth toa leaped towards his foes, weapons ready and a war cry on his lips. A beowulf answered the challenge, leaping towards the Earth toa, intending to rip out his throat. A chainsaw messily disemboweled it, sending bits of rapidly dissipating blood and organs flying. Even as the first beowulf lost its life, the second chainsaw moved to decapitate another charging grimm. With two beowulves down, Whenua took a combat stance, facing the remaining grimm, counting five more on his side. Then, the wolves leaped forward, attacking as one.

Whenua charged forward as well, chainsaws forming a ring of death around him. He felt more than saw three beowulves get cut down, before he finished with the act. The last two wolf grimm looked at each other, as if uncertain. Then, their resolve hardened and they charged, both of them receiving chainsaws to the chest. His opponents dead, Whenua turned to face his partner, who was currently swirling the whip to make... glyphs?

With every twirl of the chain whip, a glyph was formed.

A set of aura missiles took out one beowulf, while another was taken out with a flick of the whip, the motion sending the blade into the grimm's head. Three more beowulves lay dead on the ground, killed while Whenua was occupied with his own opponents.

A swing of the weight at the other end of the whip bashed in the head of the last wolf, allowing the two to catch a breath.

That was when Whenua took a look at the carnage he had been responsible for. Unlike the clean cuts of a sword or the cauterized burns of an aura weapon, the scene in front of the two portrayed brutal slaughter at its finest. Each of the five beowulves was torn apart, great gaping wounds in their chests, while organs and blood bathed the clearing.

"Whoa, that was brutal!" The boy said, taking a look at Whenua's handiwork.

"I thought it would be cleaner..." Whenua mumbled, lost in thought.

"My name's Cedar. Cedar Ferrix. What about you? I assume that we are partners, so we might as well get to know each other." The boy, Cedar, asked.

"Whenua Terrano, and yes, we are teammates." Whenua replied quietly.

"Are you alright? You sound a bit down..." Cedar asked.

"It's just that... I just don't like this. This senseless, brutal killing, it just doesn't seem like us. Hunters are supposed to be the noble protectors of the world, and here I am, killing overgrown wolves in the bloodiest way possible." Whenua said.

"I know, but if you hadn't killed them, one or both of us may be dead, and they would be free to slaughter other initiates in the forest." Cedar replied.

"I know, but knowing is different than doing. We all dreamed of being heroes, but it turns out that the work of heroes isn't all that glamorous after all. It's all dirty work and sacrifice for the good of the many."

"Exactly. We're all here because we're willing to make that sacrifice so that many others don't have to. Now let's get going, the relics aren't going to pick themselves up ya know!" Cedar said, before heading out, Whenua following right behind him.

* * *

Onewa fired his weapon, the recoil slowing him down, while a spray of stone shrapnel flew out before him. When he believed himself to have slowed down enough, he shifted his weapon back into its proto piton form. Placing one weapon on his hip, he gripped the remaining proto piton in both hands, using the weapon to break through a tree trunk that loomed before him. As he reached the next tree, he slammed the weapon into its trunk, anchoring himself to it and stopping his fall. Removing one hand from the stuck piton, he raised his second weapon and began to slowly descend down the tree trunk.

After reaching the ground, he combined his pitons, transforming them back into their stone launcher form. Pouring his elemental energy into the weapon, he smiled as the weapon's ammunition storage quickly filled up.

A loud hissing sound put the stone toa on alert. Looking to the source, he saw a giant scaled grimm staring back at him, red eyes filled with malice.

Activating his Kanohi Komau, Onewa attempted to take control of the creature. The pendant around his neck began to glow, and he reached out with his mind to find... nothing. No matter how hard he tried, the grimm had no mind to take control of! All it had were pre-programmed instincts, which amounted to 'Kill all humans at any cost'.

The beast lunged as Onewa was distracted by this revelation, a swipe of its clawed forelimb catching the stone toa by surprise. Fortunately for him, it bounced off his armor, but it sent him flying nonetheless. Stabilizing himself in midair, he landed sideways on a tree, using his legs to propel himself back towards his opponent. Landing on the ground, he quickly crouched down on one knee, taking aim with his weapon. The bolt driver, as he had decided to call this particular form of his proto pitons, fired stone, which Onewa could shape into any form of projectile. Shifting the ammunition into long, thin spikes, Onewa opened fire. With each pull of the trigger, another stone spike flew towards his opponent. However, the beast's thick, scaly hide deflected most of the shots. A few struck weaker points, such as joints and the creature's underbelly, but they did not do any lasting damage.

The beast hissed in rage as one such shot sliced through the lightly armored underbelly, drawing a tiny amount of blood. Opening its mouth wide, the creature hissed loudly before returning fire, a stream of acid emerging from its mouth. Onewa barely dodged the stream of green liquid, the acid instead hitting a nearby tree. In seconds, the acid ate through the tree's trunk, the stricken tree toppling over. A loud yelp came from a student that had just landed in the tree, the girl in question forced down to the forest floor. Onewa shifted his weapon back into piton form just as the girl landed, drawing her weapons as she did so.

Onewa leaped into the air, weapons raised, while the girl charged forward, carrying a pair of elongated tonfa blades. She rolled aside, avoiding another stream of acid, while Onewa came down on the creature's back, jamming both pitons into its back. However, both weapons missed anything vital, serving only to anger his opponent. The lizard grimm swung its surprisingly flexible tail, knocking Onewa off of its back. His weapons, however, remained embedded in its thick hide.

The beast's distraction, however, allowed for the girl to leap onto its neck, jamming the long end of one of her tonfas into the grimm's spine, killing the mindless creature.

"Thanks for the assist." Onewa said as he walked over to the grimm's corpse to retrieve his weapons.

"No problem Onewa." The girl said, just as Onewa got a chance to look at her, wondering how she knew his name.

"Oh, Robyn! I didn't recognize you there!" Onewa said as the feather haired girl smiled at him.

"I didn't either until just now. So, partners?" She asked.

"Sure." Onewa replied, finally managing to remove his weapons from the dead grimm's hide.

"Great! Now, do you know which way we're supposed to go? Because I don't." Robyn asked.

"North is that way. Now let's get going." Onewa said, pointing in the requested direction. The two of them began to walk, Onewa shifting his pitons back into gun form.

* * *

Matau soared through the air, the weapons on his back doubling as glider wings. If he wanted to, he could have just flown all the way to the temple, but he decided against it, as he needed a partner, and most partners couldn't fly. Thus, Matau came in for a landing, removing his weapons from his back just as he hit the ground.

"And he sticks his landing! The crowd goes wild!" Matau said, bowing to an imaginary audience. A series of slow claps came from above. Matau looked up to see Tigris hanging from a tree branch by his tail. Their eyes met.

"Hello, Tigris! Nice to meet-see you out here!" Matau called.

"Same to you, Matau." the tiger faunus said, landing on all fours before standing up.

"So, we're partner-friends now, I guess." Matau said.

"Yup. Now let's go get the relic-" Tigris was cut off by a loud explosion.

"That sounded close!" he shouted, but Matau was already running towards the source. Soon, the sound of beowulves howling filled the air. The smell of smoke reached Matau's nose.

"Something's burning." He stated, as Tigris caught up. His partner's response was to point into the distance, where he saw flames flickering around several downed trees. The two continued to run towards the blaze, intending to help any student who was in trouble. Matau spotted Ruby, running away from the blaze with a white haired girl leading her. The beowulves behind them chose not to pursue, instead, they smelled Tigris and Matau. Turning around, the grimm charged, oblivious to the forest burning around them.

"We have to get out of here!" Tigris shouted, turning to run. But Matau had other thoughts. Creating a cyclone, he watched it suck up burning plant matter, before sending the result at the charging wolves. "Heroes never run!" He shouted back as he did so.

Several grimm yelped as they caught fire, while others dove out of the way of the flaming twister.

"Dust dammit Matau! We need to go before we are cooked alive!" Tigris shouted, grabbing Matau and breaking his concentration. The twister dispersed, its burning components falling to the ground. The beowulves continued to howl, surrounding the hunters, oblivious to the flames around them.

A loud 'CRACK!' indicated that a burnt out tree was beginning to fall, one of its larger branches coming down on top of one of the beowulves.

"Tigris, grab on!" Matau shouted, placing his aero slicers on his back. Leaping into the air, he took flight with Tigris in his arms. Unfortunately, the falling tree chose that moment to collapse. The great tree's trunk sliced through the air, slamming into Matau. The air toa attempted to minimize the damage, but the impact with the burning tree sent pain shooting through his body, causing him to drop his partner. Tigris hit a patch of embers, screaming in pain even as Matau swooped in to retrieve him. Picking up his wounded partner, Matau soared up away from the burning forest. His partner needed healing, and Matau intended to complete the mission as quickly as possible so that he could get his partner the medical attention he needed.

* * *

Nuju slammed one of his weapons into the trunk of one of the taller trees in the forest. Using his crystal spikes as climbing axes, he slowly made his way down the trunk of the tree. Landing on the forest floor, he began to move north, scanning the surrounding area with his optic.

A flash of movement caught his eye a few minutes later. Spinning towards its source, he fired his ice spikes, intending to preemptively strike down any Grimm that sought to threaten him.

"Hey, watch it!" A startled voice shouted.

"Who's there?" Nuju called. In response, a raven haired boy emerged from his hiding spot, clutching a long, twin bladed staff.

"Watch your fire! You almost took my head off!" The boy said, before realizing that he had made eye contact. "Aww crap, now we're partners."

"Who are you?" Nuju asked his new partner.

"Rowan Serket. What about you?" Rowan asked.

"Nuju Krystall. Now, before we get going, what are your skills in combat?" Nuju asked.

"I've got this staff, and my aura has a healing factor. What about you?" Rowan replied.

"I've got these," Nuju said, indicating his weapons, "and I can control ice."

"Good. Now that that's over with, let's get going... wait, what is that?" Rowan asked, putting a hand to his ear.

"What is wha... oh, that. It sounds like buzzing." Nuju said, hearing the sound as well.

"Buzzing? Then that means... oh no, RAPIER WASPS!" The boy screamed, just as the giant swarm of rapier wasps came into view. Each wasp was about the size of a closed fist, and had a sharp bladed stinger at least half the length of the rest of its body. Bright red grimm markings covered each wasp's coal black carapace, although each insect had a bone white head. A swarm of thousands was headed for the two hunter initiates, and they were angry, for Nuju had made a rookie mistake in not checking his firing lines for Rapier Wasp hives. Even the best hunters watched their fire if a rapier wasp hive was in the vicinity, as it only took one stray bullet, or in Nuju's case, ice spike, to rile up the entire hive into a frenzy.

"Run!" The boy shouted, not waiting for his partner as he began to sprint away from the insect swarm. Nuju ran after him, not wanting to get too close to the insects.

His partner leaped into the air, executing a flip while aiming his weapon at the wasps behind him. The gun built into the staff fired, sending a spray of fire back at the wasps. A few were hit, falling out of the sky, but the vast multitude ignored their losses and pressed forward.

"Rowan! Can you get a fire started?" Nuju shouted as he ran.

"I can, but I need time!" His partner shouted back.

"I'll try to buy you some!" Nuju shouted as he turned to face the swarm. He began to chill the air, the cold slowing the swarm. Activating his Kanohi Matatu, Nuju attempted to stop the swarm with a telekinetic hold. It worked, but it took every once of the ice toa's mental focus to keep the swarm still for even a moment.

The sound of several gunshots distracted Nuju for a moment, causing his hold over the swarm to weaken. The wasps began to fly towards him once more, but the fire behind him was already burning.

"Spread the fire! We need to keep them from being able to reach us!" Nuju said, using telekinesis to spread the burning branches around the forest. Soon, the entire forest was burning around them, creating a barrier that the rapier wasps couldn't breach, allowing Nuju and Rowan to make their getaway. Attempting to put as much distance between themselves and the rapier wasps as possible, the two hunter initiates headed north.

* * *

Professor Ozpin looked at the tablet in his hand, keeping an eye on the multitude of students currently undergoing initiation.

"Another pair has been formed, sir. Matau Verdaunt and Tigris Black. Tigris is currently badly injured, and is in mortal danger as long as he is in this forest. Shall we send a recovery team?" Glynda asked.

"No. I believe that Matau will be more than capable of caring for his stricken teammate." Ozpin replied.

"With all due respect, Matau is the reason the boy was injured in the first place. Had he retreated when his teammate gave the order, he would have not had to rescue his teammate in the first place." Glynda replied.

"I am confident in Matau's ability to protect his teammate. Let this be a lesson to him that there are times when retreat is the best option." Ozpin said.

"Very well. I will hold off on sending a recovery team, for now."

Little did the two instructors know, someone else was also watching the initiation with great interest.

* * *

Brutaka sighed as he watched the toa continue with their initiation, easily overcoming any opposition that they had found.

"Booooorrriiiinnnggg!" He groaned, to the annoyance of his silver armored partner.

"This isn't being done for your entertainment! We are doing this in order to better train the Toa, and that seems to be going according to plan." Axonn said.

Brutaka muttered something under his breath as he continued to watch the six pairs make their way towards the forest temple. As the toa reached their objective, Brutaka made a decision.

"Allright, this is not working. There is nothing to challenge the toa in this forest, especially when they are united as they are at the moment." The golden armored titan said, watching the Toa select relics at random.

"What do you propose we do about it then?" Axonn asked.

"Oh, I have just the thing in mind..." Brutaka said, before activating his Kanohi Olmak. Suddenly, several portals began to open at various locations in Brutaka's home universe. Axonn caught sight of one of their locations via one of the viewscreens around the room.

"Is that... the zone of shadows? What are you... Mata Nui, you're not going to-" Axonn said, before watching one of the zone's larger inhabitants fall into the portal, confirming his fears.

"Do what? Drop a Zivon on them? Of course not, all zivons will be released a respectable distance away from the Toa!" Brutaka chuckled, before sending another being through the portal he had opened on Odina.

"Nobody's ever defeated a Zivon before! That thing eats half the Visorak horde for breakfast!" Axonn said.

"There's a first time for everything, Axonn. Now, let us sit back and enjoy the show." Brutaka replied, leaning back into the sofa.

* * *

Matau touched down gently at the edge of the clearing surrounding the forest temple. Setting his now unconscious partner down on the ground next to the temple, he walked up to one of the pedestals containing a relic. He grabbed an odd golden tower with a strangely shaped dome on top, before walking over to his teammate.

"Matau!" A voice sounded out across the clearing, Matau recognizing its source instantly.

"Thank Mata Nui!" He muttered under his breath, before shouting back.

"Nokama! Get over here, quick-fast!" Nokama began to run, her teammate following behind her. Her eyes widened as she saw the problem.

"Tigris? What happened?" Layla shouted as she stopped next to her unconscious friend.

"Forest fire. A student accidentally started it, and we were caught in the middle of it with a pack of Beowulves surrounding us. I got him out, but not before he got burned up like this. Can you help him Nokama?" Matau asked.

"I'll do what I can, but this is beyond my capabilities." Nokama said, condensing water from the vapor in the surrounding air. Kneeling down, she began to work her magic, the water soothing the burned and scarred tissue. Meanwhile, the water on the boy's interior began to assist as well. After a few minutes, Nokama stopped.

"That should keep his condition from deteriorating any further, but there is not much else that I can do for him right now. He's in no condition to stand, much less fight right now, so we will need to keep him safe from harm. Layla, can you do that?" Nokama asked.

"I will do my best to ensure no harm comes to him." Layla said, raising her sword and standing protectively over her friend's body while Nokama grabbed a relic, a black piece resembling a fortress' tower.

That was when a series of small tremors began to emanate from the nearby forest. Moments later, a full blown Ursa Major flew out and away from the treeline, slamming into the ground a few feet away. A disc followed the bear grimm, hitting it directly in the head and freezing it in place. The tremors increased in both severity and frequency, before a GIANT figure strode out of the forest, clutching a tree in its hands. Vakama rode on its shoulders, reloading his disc launcher. The figure raised the tree it was holding, before bringing it down upon the frozen grimm, reducing it to a red stain on the clearing ground.

"What... was that?" Layla gasped.

"Growth disc, level 8 most likely." Nokama replied as the figure knelt down, allowing Vakama to dismount.

"That... was... AWESOME! We should do that again sometime!" The figure said in a deep, booming voice.

"Don't worry Arete, I've got plenty more discs to go around!" Vakama replied, before walking over to where the rest of the toa stood, waving to the group as he went to pick up a relic.

"Wait, how long does this last?" Arete asked, nervousness seeping into his voice.

"A few hours." Vakama replied, before he was picked up once again and placed on his teammate's shoulders.

That was when the earth rumbled slightly, before a small pit emerged several feet away from the group. A black haired head poked out of the tunnel, raising his drills.

"See? I told you that I could get us here like this!" Whenua shouted down into the tunnel before stepping out of it. A grey haired head poked its way out afterward, its owner spitting out dirt.

"I guess it did work. We only had to fight what, twenty grimm worms along the way!" Cedar Ferrix shouted as he continued to spit out dirt.

"It was twenty three. I was counting. Besides, that sprint through their tunnel network cut our travel time in half!" Whenua replied, helping his partner out of the dirt.

"We were only sprinting because we had a horde of Grimm worms on our tails!" Cedar replied, before catching sight of the group gathered by the temple.

The two walked over, Whenua going for a relic while Cedar walked over to Layla, holding out a hand.

"Cedar Ferrix. I don't believe we've met." He said.

"Layla Thorne." The girl said in a friendly tone, shaking the offered hand. Any other pleasantries were interrupted as a low, droning buzz began to make its presence known, along with two loud screaming voices.

"Dammit Nuju! I thought your plan would hold them off!" Rowan Serket shouted as he continued to run. He was on his last legs, his aura reserves being almost completely drained. Little did he know that Nuju had been accelerating both their speeds with telekinesis. Both boys were covered in welts and stings from the swarm of rapier wasps pursuing them.

"My plan worked! Otherwise we would be up to our necks in rapier wasps by now!" Nuju shouted, tossing the last remaining firebrands behind him. It hit a damp patch of moss and went out, slowing the wasps caught in the smoke, if only briefly. The two ran out into the clearing, the swarm of wasp grimm hot on their heels.

"Arete! Let me down!" Vakama shouted, his temporarily enlarged partner complying. "Matau! Come with me!" Vakama shouted, running towards the swarm. Matau followed him.

"Allright Matau, keep them back!" Vakama ordered, his green haired teammate complying. A powerful gust of wind began to force the wasps back, although very slowly. This did, however, allow for Nuju and Rowan to get clear. With all friendly targets out of the way, Vakama conjured up a stream of fire, directing the flames into Matau's wind wall. The resulting wave of fire quickly burned away most of the rapier wasps, the few survivors deciding to cut their losses and return to their hive. The wasps' would be victims, however, took the opportunity to collapse on the ground, panting in exhaustion and groaning in pain. Rowan activated his aura, using it to draw out the wasp venom, before laying a hand on Nuju and doing the same for his stings. Nokama rushed over, a sphere of water already coalescing in her hands. Kneeling down beside the exhausted boys, she began attending to their injuries. As this was going on, Onewa and Robyn chose that moment to walk out of the forest, weapons at the ready. Robyn gaped at the scene before her before running to help Tigris, who had just regained consciousness and was trying to stand up, leaning on Layla's sword. Robyn began to help her wounded brother up, gasping as she saw his burned skin and the charred remains of his clothing. Her brother's tail, which was kept mostly hidden, was now out in the open, curled around one of his three sai. Onewa, meanwhile, went to grab a relic, settling for a carved black figurine of a local rahi, Nuju grabbing a relic shortly after.

"Where to now?" Matau asked.

"We've got the relics we need, so now all we need to do is head back to Beacon cliff. It is a straight walk to the south, so let's get going." Vakama said, before setting off. The rest of the toa followed suit, their partners at their sides. Robyn and Layla brought up the rear, supporting Tigris between themselves.

* * *

After a short and uneventful period of time spent walking, the group decided to stop and rest. Sitting down on a variety of rocks, logs, and raised lumps of dirt, the team sighed as they caught their breath. The forest seemed so peaceful now that they weren't under attack by a variety of monsters. Little did they know that back at the temple, Pyrrha Nikos was being chased around by a giant scorpion, Weiss was clinging on to a giant Nevermore's talon for dear life, and Yang was freaking out due to everyone freaking out all at once.

For two seconds, everything was perfect for the Toa, with absolutely nothing occurring over the course of said two seconds. After those two seconds, however, everything went to Karzhani.

A low hum split the air, the Toa looking around for its source, finding nothing. Then, several seconds later, the hum stopped, replaced by a deafening shriek.

"What was that?" Layla asked, nervously. Her question was answered by the source of the sound smashing through the wall of trees surrounding the clearing where the party was resting.

It was forty feet tall, covered from head to toe in thick black chitin. It strode on four giant legs, while two huge black claws protrude from below its bone white head, which was covered in red markings. Two malevolent red eyes stared directly at the party, while a giant stinger was poised to strike.

"What in the name of dust is that?" Robyn screamed as the creature let out another loud roar.

"No... it can't be!" Whenua muttered as he examined the creature. Then, a volley of energy spinners shot from various points on the creature's back. Two missed, bouncing off the ground and dissipating. Another struck Tigris, causing the boy to fall to the ground.

"Tigris!" Robyn shouted, assuming a protective stance in front of her brother.

"I can't feel my legs!" Tigris groaned. In fact, his whole body was numb thanks to the spinner that had hit him. Layla deflected a second spinner that would have otherwise hit her.

"Does anyone know what this thing is?" Rowan shouted, spinning his staff and deflecting several incoming spinners.

"That's a zivon! But what's one doing all the way out here?" Whenua shouted, leaping out of the way of a spinner.

"A what?" Cedar shouted, summoning a glyph to block another incoming spinner.

"It doesn't matter! Does it have any weaknesses?" Matau asked.

"Fire can slow it down, but as far as I know, nobody's ever defeated one of these!" Whenua shouted back as Arete charged, swinging his tree as he did so. The Zivon screeched as he slammed the tree trunk onto its carapace, but no damage was done. The zivon raised its stinger, sending it screaming down towards the boy who had dared attack it. Arete blocked it with one hand, keeping it away from his head, while his other hand attempted to pummel the creature. A swipe of the zivon's claws sent the boy flying away into a tree. The rest of the team raised their ranged weapons, ready to pound the creature with everything they had.

Vakama took aim with his disc launcher, loading the fire disc that he had gotten when he first became a Toa. Nokama condensed a column of water, while Whenua jammed his drills into the ground, attempting to create a fissure in the ground. Onewa aimed his combined proto pitons, firing off stone spikes. Nuju released a hail of ice spikes, while Matau opened his aero slicers into fan form, before hurling them towards the giant insect, the razor edged fans spinning through the air. Cedar twirled his chain, creating a set of glyphs that transformed into a volley of aura missiles, while Rowan folded his staff in half, changing the weapon into a battleaxe. Taking aim, Rowan began to fire in two shot bursts. Robyn took aim with her tonfas, opening fire with the pistols built into the weapons, while Layla shifted her sword into bazooka form, firing a swarm of rockets. Arete took aim with his spear, which was now almost comically undersized, the weapon firing magnetically accelerated slugs at the enemy. The only member of the party who wasn't opening fire was Tigris, as the tiger faunus was in no shape to fight, having been quickly moved out of the way by Robyn.

The deafening barrage continued for almost fifteen seconds before the Zivon screamed again and charged. The various initiates dove out of the giant insect's way as the Zivon steamrolled over the area that they had just occupied. Swinging its tail, it knocked Onewa and Robyn off their feet, before slamming into Vakama, sending the fire toa flying. The still standing initiates took a moment to examine the damage done to their enemy. The result was negligible. Almost all of their shots had bounced off the creature's armored carapace.

"Arete! Take out the tail!" Vakama shouted as Arete, who was standing well out of the way, took aim for another shot. Immediately after his weapon spoke, the enlarged boy charged, his spear unfolding into shield form. The zivon sent its stinger speeding towards him, but the giant hunter in training blocked the blow before grabbing onto the appendage, clinging on tightly as the zivon swung him around the clearing both in an attempt to dislodge him and to keep the rest of the team down. As the Zivon did this, Arete slowly made his way down the length of the tail, before coming to stand on the creature's back. Collapsing his shield, he attempted to slam the resulting spear down into the zivon's back. He succeeded in making a small crack in the carapace, but nothing major.

"The top shell is thinner! If we can hit it, we might be able to beat this thing!" He shouted, moments before the stinger came down, missing him by a millimeter, instead slamming into the cracked area of the Zivon's shell. The creature screeched in pain as it withdrew the stinger, before using it as a club to knock Arete off. As the boy flew into a tree once again, he saw Onewa leaping down from the branches of another tree, coming to land on top of the creature. Slamming a proto piton into the joint between the creature's left claw and the rest of its body, Onewa swung his other weapon down towards one of his teammates. Whenua grabbed the swinging weapon, allowing Onewa to reel him in. Onewa withdrew his proto piton before leaping off of the creature's back just in time to avoid a swing of its stinger. Shifting his drills into chainsaw form, Whenua plunged the weapons into the damaged joint, causing blood, gore, and bits of chitin to spray out of the wound. Screaming in pain, the zivon flailed the damaged joint, causing even more damage as it did so, but it succeeded in throwing Whenua off.

"Matau! Arete! To me!" Vakama shouted, just as the creature sprayed thick green webbing out of its forelimbs. The stream of webbing would have hit Tigris had Nokama and Layla not dove in front of it and sliced the webbing to pieces.

Another storm of spinners followed, Rowan and Robyn stepping in to block them, one by spinning his staff while the other with decisive swings of her tonfas. However, one made it past Robyn's guard, striking her in the chest. Immediately, she stumbled, blinded by the spinner that hit her. Nuju used a telekinetic pull to send her out of harm's way as the Zivon attempted to swipe at her with its remaining claw.

While all that was going on, Vakama and Matau had fastened their weapons to their backs, before grabbing onto Arete's shoulders. The two pulled the enlarged boy into the air, carrying him high above the forest canopy.

"Get your spear ready." Vakama told his partner. "Ready?" He asked.

"Always was." Arete replied.

"Good. Matau, let go." Vakama commanded, before accelerating down towards the ground, Matau plummeting down beside him. Arete held his spear out in front of him, eyes squeezed shut against the wind. As they neared the ground , Vakama let go, leveling out his flight and landing, just as Arete slammed into the zivon's good claw. The impact left a sizeable crater in the creature's limb, but it also caused Arete's weapon to embed itself deeply into the beast's flesh. As he tried fruitlessly to remove his weapon, the zivon raised its stinger, intending to deliver a death blow. A telekinetic pull yanked Arete out of harm's way, Nuju leaping up to take his place, crystal spikes shifting into short swords. The stinger slammed into hard chitin once again, giving Nuju the time he needed to sever the end of the appendage. Screaming in pain, the creature retreated, covering its retreat with a hail of webs and spinners. Nuju did a backflip away from the creature, coming to a landing near the rest of his teammates.

"This isn't working! We can hurt it, but we can't kill it!" Layla said.

"Do you have any bright ideas?" Onewa asked.

"Whenua, create a fissure right here, now!" Cedar shouted. Whenua complied, combining his drills and slamming them into the ground, creating a wide pit, one large enough to trap the beast.

"Vakama, can you heat up the floor of the pit? I want it covered in lava!" Cedar shouted, Vakama complying. The rest of the team covered him as he poured fire into the pit. Slowly but surely, the bottom of the pit turned into glowing magma.

"Nuju, can you remove my spear?" Arete asked, realizing what was about to happen. Nuju flipped back, out of the line of fire. Activating his telekinetic powers, he began to slowly rip the spear out of the limb in which it was embedded.

"Nokama, Vakama, create a steam barrier!" Cedar ordered, and the two Toa complied. The clearing filled with a cloud of steam, making it difficult to see.

"Allright, now hit the thing with everything we've got! Draw it closer!" Cedar shouted, taking up position on the far side of the pit and creating aura missiles. The rest of the team joined him, opening fire with their weapons and abilities. They did not have to wait long, as the zivon began to charge. Running screaming through the mist, the Zivon was caught completely by surprise as it suddenly ran over the trap made for it. It had time for one last defiant shriek before it impacted the lava, the heat cooking it alive inside its carapace. The group of fighters looked over the edge of the pit, only to see the zivon slowly sinking beneath the lava, its carapace catching fire.

"Dust... that was hard..." Cedar panted, collapsing on the ground, thankfully a good distance away from the pit.

"Come on, let's get moving before any more unpleasant surprises show up." Arete said, the rest of the team moving away from the cooling lava pit, Arete picking up Tigris. The team emerged from the forest just in time to see a red blur fly up towards a giant nevermore, the grimm's tail having been frozen to the ground. The team watched Ruby Rose catch the beast's head with her scythe before running up the cliff wall, beheading the bird at the top of the cliff in a shower of rose petals.

Rowan whistled.

"Damn, that's impressive. Not nearly as impressive as what we did though." He said, getting a few chuckles.

Vakama and Matau spent the next few minutes ferrying their teammates up the cliff, although Onewa had elected to climb it himself. Slowly, the twelve of them made it up the cliff, with Arete and Tigris being the last ones up. By now, Arete had begun to shrink in size, although he was still at least two and a half times his normal size.

The group made their way back to Beacon in triumph, meeting up with Ruby's party as they did so.

"So, how did you guys do?" Ruby asked as the group drew closer.

"We just came out of a fight with a grimm that made a Deathstalker look like a little baby. We're alive and the grimm's not, which is a win in my books." Cedar replied.

"Whoa... how did you guys beat it?" Ruby asked.

"Vakama and Whenua created a giant pit full of lava, before we lured it in. Thankfully it was angry enough to take the bait, otherwise we would have fared a whole lot worse." Rowan answered.

The two groups continued to chat as they walked back to Beacon. They were met by Ozpin and Glynda at the academy entrance.

"Welcome back, hunters and huntresses." Ozpin said. "You have all proven yourselves more than worthy of studying at this prestigious academy. The highlight reel for initiation will certainly be interesting, to say the least. Two A class grimm and one previously unknown grimm that has tentatively been ranked as S class have been defeated due to your skill and ability to work together as teams. Now head inside and clean yourselves off. You do want to look your best for the upcoming ceremony, right?" He continued.

"What about my brother?" Robyn asked, gesturing towards the injured hunter.

"I will take him to the infirmary. Thanks to Nokama's skill in healing, he will not have to miss the team assignment ceremony due to his injuries." Glynda replied, moving towards the wounded student. Putting his arm around her shoulder, she began to support him as they walked towards the Beacon infirmary. The rest of the students followed her into the academy. All but one of them, at least.

"Vakama, will you come here for a moment?" Ozpin asked.

"What is it?" Vakama asked as he walked up to the professor.

"It has to do with the grimm that you encountered, more specifically, how it found you. Do you remember anything unusual happening right before you encountered it?" Ozpin asked.

"Yes. I remember a faint but noticeable hum right before we first heard the zivon approach." Vakama replied.

"So it is called a zivon then... interesting. How did you learn that name?" Ozpin asked.

"You should ask Whenua. I didn't know what it was until he recognized it. He was one of the better archivists back home, so it stands to reason that he had heard of it before."

"Interesting. However, I did not come here to discuss the grimm with you. I came to show you something that one of our cameras out in the forest had recorded." Ozpin said, handing his tablet to Vakama before playing a video.

For a short while, nothing happened. Then a giant portal appeared out of nowhere, disgorging the giant insectoid creature. The camera feed cut out seconds later.

"I have sent what data I could gather regarding this event to several laboratories around Vale. Hopefully they will be able to create a way for you and your team to return home." Ozpin said as the video finished. Vakama was speechless for a few seconds.

"Thank you, professor." He said at last. "I will inform my team of this development. Is there anything else?" Vakama asked.

"No, that will be all. Now run along, you wouldn't want to look like you were just fighting for your life at the team assignment ceremony, now would you?"

"I have no intention of doing so, professor." Vakama said, before running towards the school, intending to catch up with his friends.

* * *

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the continuation of our educational career here at Beacon. With the coming of a new school year, there will doubtlessly be new hardships and challenges to overcome, but it will also be a time of new friendships, knowledge, and experiences. To all students in their second year and above, I would like to thank you for your continued efforts towards becoming one of the upholders of peace, and wish you all the best of luck in the coming year. I hope that each and every one of you will take utmost care in your studies, for your future career will be built on what you have learned today." Ozpin spoke, addressing the gathered students in the school auditorium.

"But, while it warms my heart to see familiar faces, it is also my pleasure to welcome the newest students to this academy. Each and every one of them has earned their place in this school, both through passing rigorous combat evaluations and by successfully completing their initiation. Now, their journey can truly begin here at Beacon, but they will not be taking this path alone, for today is the day that they will be given their teams. These teams will stay together for the rest of their members' time at Beacon, and at the end of the semester their achievements will be evaluated and their standing among the students of Beacon determined. Now, would the students called please proceed to the stage for your team assignment. First up will be Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark." The four students walked up onto the stage, beaming.

"The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you four will work together as Team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester." Ozpin said, as the pictures of the four boys' faces re-arranged themselves on the holoscreen, letters appearing underneath them, spelling out CRDL. The crowd applauded the four boys. "You four currently hold one of the top five shortest initiation completion times on record, having retrieved your relics in under 30 minutes of initiation beginning. Congratulations on your achievement." Ozpin said as a video of the team sprinting through the forest played. The applause grew in volume as the four boys left the stage.

"Arete Hill, Nokama Saphera, Vakama Garnett, and Layla Thorne." Ozpin called, the four students walking up onto the stage. "You four retrieved the black rook pieces, and shall henceforth be known as Team Anvil, led by Vakama Garnett." The letters and faces rearranged themselves, marking the four as part of team ANVL. The three team members smiled at their leader, Vakama and Nokama bumping their fists together. "Your team, along with two others, has assisted in taking down a never before seen class S grimm, newly designated as a Zivon, demonstrating above ordinary combat prowess and teamwork skills. Congratulations, to all of you." Ozpin said as a video of the team's members in action against the Zivon, starting with Nokama and Layla slicing through a storm of webbing, and finishing with Arete and Vakama diving towards the monster, Arete's spear at ready. The four students walked off of the stage as Ozpin called the next team.

"Matau Verdaunt, Nuju Krystall, Tigris Black, and Rowan Serket. You four retrieved the white bishop pieces, thus you shall be known as Team Mantis, led by Nuju Krystall." Ozpin said as the letters on the holoscreen rearranged themselves to form the name of Team MNTS. "Your teammates have shown not only extraordinary combat ability, but also have exhibited a willingness to place your lives at risk to rescue others from certain death. I look forward to helping teach such individuals here at Beacon." Ozpin said as a video played, showing Matau pulling Tigris out of the fire, before switching to Rowan deflecting a storm of energy spinners and Nuju severing the creature's stinger. The four students made their way offstage to thunderous applause.

"Cedar Ferrix, Robyn Black, Onewa Adalstien, and Whenua Terrano. You four retrieved the black knight pieces, and shall now be known as Team Crow, led by Cedar Ferrix." Ozpin announced, the letters indicating that the students were now members of Team CROW. "Your creativity and tactical thinking were the key to your team's victory today, and shall lead you to many future successes as well." Ozpin said as the holoscreen began to show a clip of Onewa and Whenua taking out one of the zivon's claws, before shifting to one of Robyn standing protectively over Tigris' wounded body, deflecting a storm of spinners and webbing. Finally the clip ended with the Zivon falling into the pit trap as the twelve man party looked on.

The ceremony continued with four other teams being formed before any faces that the Toa recognized made it onto the stage.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. You four retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Juniper, led by Jaune Arc." The letters rearranged themselves, showing the newly formed Team JNPR as Nora embraced Ren. "Congratulations young man." Ozpin said, right before Pyrrha delivered a congratulatory punch to the boy's shoulder, knocking Jaune off his feet. The cheers turned into laughter as Jaune stood up, embarrassed. The holoscreen began to show a clip of the fight against the deathstalker, beginning with Ren weakening its stinger, followed by Pyrrha severing the appendage on a command from Jaune. The video ended with Nora impaling the oversized scorpion with its own severed stinger. The four made their way offstage as Ozpin called the final team up.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces, and from this day forward, you will work together as Team Ruby, led by Ruby Rose." Ozpin said as the letters rearranged themselves, forming the name of the newly formed Team RWBY. Yang ran over and hugged her younger sister, as Ozpin continued to speak. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin finished as a video played, starting with Blake running down the back of a giant Nevermore, slashing all the while, before switching to Yang standing inside the creature's beak, sending shot after explosive shot into the beast's gullet. Then the scene changed to Weiss freezing the bird's tail to the ground before showing Ruby running up the cliff on a path of glyphs, ending in the nevermore's decapitation.

With smiles plastered all over their faces, the newly formed teams made their way out of the auditorium while the senior students cheered them on. Once they left the room, the students broke into cheers of their own, high fiveing and embracing their new teammates. After a few minutes of private celebration, the teams began to head to the armory, where they would stow away their weapons and armor. After doing so, they began to head their separate ways, heading towards the various dorms that were assigned to them via scroll. Whether by luck or by Ozpin's machinations, teams ANVL, MNTS, and CROW's dorms were right next to each other. Teams RWBY and JNPR were just around the corner, while team CRDL was on the floor above. Falling down onto his bed, Vakama sighed. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted. Suddenly, he noticed a lump on his bed. Standing up, he discovered that he had just fallen down onto a new school uniform. The rest of the toa had similar experiences, although Whenua found a set of fitted pajamas folded into the uniform, much to his team's amusement. Whenua didn't care, though, as he no longer had to wear Nokama's spare nightgown.

The students continued to relax for the rest of the day, before the dinner announcement was given, at which every new student suddenly realized that they hadn't eaten since breakfast. Famished, they quickly made their way down to the dining hall, where a great feast was waiting for them. The teams sat down, sitting grouped together with partners and other teams that they knew. Several teams sat alone, CRDL included, while teams CROW, ANVL, and MNTS sat down at a single table together. The team's members began to load their plates with food, wishing to sample everything at once. They were joined by teams JNPR and RWBY, who had followed Jaune to the table.

"I suppose I have to thank you, Nokama." Jaune said, causing the blue haired toa to look up.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"What you told me back in the locker room, it really helped me back in the forest. If it weren't for you, I would have just gone splat on impact. Thanks to you, I managed to work out a landing strategy that kept me from doing so, and it turns out that I am actually a half decent fighter once I get over my fear of combat!" Jaune said. Nokama smiled back.

"I knew you had it in you! Now you are the leader of your own team, and I believe that that is a sign of future greatness, Jaune. Just remember that you now have a team to help you with any problems that you may have. If anything troubles you, do not hesitate to confide in them, and I believe that most of us will also be willing to help as well." Nokama said, looking around at the gathered students. They all nodded or somehow indicated their agreement with the water toa.

"Thanks, Nokama. I owe you one." Jaune said quietly.

"Don't worry about it. Now, let's eat." Nokama said. All at once, every student at the table began to eat, stuffing their faces with the wide variety of foods available. Soon, Nuju was freezing juice glasses into frozen popsicles for the rest of the group, telekinetically levitating them towards the various team members requesting them. Vakama and Yang were arm wrestling, while Pyrrha and Nokama were discussing Jaune of all things. Oblivious to their conversation, Jaune was engaging Ruby in an eating contest, the smaller girl easily beating him, practically inhaling the cookies off her plate while Jaune struggled to keep up. Matau was trying, and failing, at hitting on Yang while Onewa and Nora were talking business, specifically the art of pranking. With Nora's crazed ingenuity combined with Onewa's wit and mind control capabilities, the two formed a dangerous pair. Whenua spent the time reading, occasionally taking a bite of chicken. The feast continued well into the night, with laughter and excited speech ringing loud all over the hall.

* * *

The figure crept quietly along the warehouse wall, a pair of daggers in her hands while another, smaller knife rested looped around her long, hairless tail, one of the better alterations to her physical form that came with her new body. She wore a light grey top that exposed her toned midriff, while a pair of skin-tight black leggings completed her outfit. Listening around the corner, she ensured that the area was safe before suddenly accelerating into cover in the blink of an eye. Staying absolutely quiet, she listened for anyone coming. She had a target and a bounty to collect, and it just wouldn't be professional if someone else stumbled in and botched the job.

She heard her target listening to a faint, chattering speaker. Using her tail dagger as a mirror, the hunter took her first real look at her prey. He was clad in a white suit, his orange hair hidden by a bowler hat.

Twirling the knife in a circle, she prepared to end the man's life, when a new pair of footsteps drew her attention. A masked figure, wearing some sort of grey armored vest over black clothing, walked up next to her target, pushing a large black container. Handing over a set of small cards, most likely a form of payment, the white suited man spoke.

"Open it." He ordered, simply. The man quickly forced the container open with a crowbar, revealing its contents. A plethora of faintly humming multicolored crystals lay within. The white suited man picked a blue crystal out as the armored figure left the warehouse.

"We're gonna need more men..." The hunter's target muttered, eyeing the crystal.

That was when the hunter struck, flinging her dagger at the man. It would have struck him directly in the heart had another figure not leaped down from the ceiling, having hidden there silently the whole time. One half of her hair was a dark brown, while the other was a light pink. The same effect extended to her eyes. Extending a strange weapon, which seemed to be a combination of staff and fabric shield, she blocked the knife, causing the fire crystal contained within the throwing dagger to detonate harmlessly.

The hunter stepped out of her hiding spot, one long knife in each hand.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" Her target asked. "Hmm, it seems that a little rodent has decided to crawl out of the woodwork. No matter. Neo, let's take care of her, shall we?" The man said, raising his cane, pointing it directly at her, while the girl performed a graceful curtsy. Both individuals aimed their weapons and fired, flares shrieking as they exited the gun barrels. Twirling her knives, the hunter deflected the incoming fire.

"This isn't personal or anything, mind you, but a girl's gotta eat, ya know?" The hunter replied, using her tail to fling a pair of knives at her opponents, one of whom blocked it with her strange weapon while the other deflected it with a twirl of his cane. "Why don't you just surrender? I promise I'll make it quick."

"No can do, missy. I have my operation to run, and I'm not abandoning it because some rat who was rejected from Beacon thinks that she can take me on." Her target replied, firing another barrage of flares, all of which were quickly deflected. The hunter's return fire was much more successful, hitting the man square in the heart. But instead of falling, the man just shattered as if he were made of glass. The incoming flare nearly knocked her off her feet, the hunter barely stopping it by twirling the knife on her tail.

Turning to face her target, she saw the girl coming towards her, spinning her staff-shield. The razor edged fabric met a long dagger in midair, before the weapon was angled and a flare was unloaded at point blank range, its target barely dashing out of the way.

The smell fire alerted her to the ground below her starting to glow a bright orange. Leaping back, the hunter dodged the flaming eruption, but landed in the path of another. Singed and stunned, she watched a cage of fire forming around her. A woman clad in a red dress strode towards the captured hunter, a faint smile on her lips.

"It seems that I have caught another rodent for you, Roman." The woman spoke, her voice silky smooth, yet laden with venom. "As for you, rat, why are you here? How did you find us?" She asked.

"I'm just here for the bounty, although the amount they offered is not nearly enough, now that I think about it." The hunter said, hooking her tail into a longer knife hidden on the inside of her pant leg. Swinging the weapon around, she smiled as the ice crystal in its hilt cut a hole through the cage, allowing her to leap out and attack the woman. However, a youth clad in silver with a pair of black pants on intercepted her halfway, aiming a high kick at her face. The loud 'BANG!' of a firearm surprised the hunter, and the shot would have hit her in the face had she not brought her left arm up. The shot bounced off the metal of the prosthetic arm, before the limb shifted back into a long blade. However, it wasn't fast enough to stop a second kick, which hit her in the chest, sending her sprawling.

"Now I know that they aren't paying me enough for this..." The hunter muttered as she raised her weapons just in time to block a flurry of strikes from a green haired girl, her knives crossing with those belonging to her enemy. It was a short battle, ended when a blast of fire knocked the hunter to the ground.

"You are just here for the money, but I have a counter proposal that may interest you." The red clad woman approached her wounded opponent.

"I'm all ears here. They aren't paying me nearly enough for this." The downed bounty hunter replied.

"It's simple, really. Your services for your life, and maybe an extra bonus on the side if I'm feeling generous." The woman said. Her downed enemy pretended to think about it for a few seconds before replying.

"You have a deal. Plain old bounty hunter work was getting dull, after all. It would be nice to join an organized operation once again. Count me in." The rat faunus said.

"Excellent. You will be working with Roman here. You will take orders only from him and myself. If anyone else tries to give you orders, kill them." The woman said, before backing away, allowing her new ally to stand.

"Well, sweetheart, it seems that we might be working together after all. Why don't you tell me your name, since we will be partners in crime from now on." The criminal said. In response, the bounty hunter brought one of her knives to his throat.

"You don't want to know what happened to the last person who called me sweetheart." She said, pressing the knife into his throat. "As for my name, you can call me Lariska."

* * *

**A/N: And another chapter bites the dust. New characters, fight scenes galore, plot building, what more could you possibly want?**

**Also, with regards to team names, my teams underwent several last minute revisions that caused me to break slightly with the team naming guide. I did, however, look on the wiki page regarding team formation, and it seems that while the teams are traditionally led by the student whose name forms the first letter, it is not yet set in stone, which allowed me to take a few liberties with team formation. Originally, Matau was supposed to lead MNTS and Arete was supposed to lead ANVL, but Matau makes less sense as a leader, especially after his actions in the forest, while Arete developed more as a follower than a leader as I wrote him. Rather than rename the teams to something that made less sense, like renaming ANVIL to VANGUARD, which would have made less sense, as team names are supposed to evoke color, I decided to keep the teams the way they are and just change their leaders into someone who was more qualified for the job.**

**I also took some fairly obvious liberties with the team formation ceremony because hey, why the heck not. As for the OCs, I tried to stay faithful to the naming guide while creating them, rather than toss the guide out the window and create a bunch of mary sue OPCs.**

**Finally, I hope I kept the weapons within the RWBY range of practicality. While RWBY weapons are obviously impractical IRL, (If they were, the US army would be armed with mecha shifting sniper scythes by now.), RWBY physics work differently than in the real world. My personal theory as to why this is has to do with a subconsciously generated aura field that prevents accidental self-harm from blades that would have otherwise been propelled by recoil into their users. I hope they all are unique in their own way without becoming aura fueled death stars.**

**Anyway, with that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter. The next story to be updated will be 'Secrets of the Void.' In fact, said story should have been updated before this one, but work is slow on it due to me needing to comb through far more footage in order to get conversations right down to the letter, thus slowing down my progress to a crawl.**

**EDIT: Something I forgot to add into the original Author's Note: Onewa's last name, Adalstien, was made up by toalorikan626. My apologies for not including this sooner.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- First Class**

A loud whistle woke Vakama from his slumber. Rubbing his eyes blearily, he saw the rest of his team doing the same, no doubt woken by the same noise.

"Grrrr, when I get my hands on whoever did that I'm gonna... I'm gonna... ACHOOO!" Layla's angry tirade was interrupted by her sneeze, the noise of which helped snap Nokama and Arete out of their stupor.

"When's breakfast? I'm starving!" Arete groaned.

"I'm surprised. Given how much you ate last night, I would have thought you would be set for the rest of the school year." Nokama said, walking into the adjacent bathroom to get changed into her school uniform. Once she left, it was Vakama's turn. Soon, the rest of the team was dressed and ready for school, with Nokama already examining the schedule for the day.

"Well, breakfast is served in a few minutes, so we should get going." She said, closing the book and standing up. "We have a few classes together, namely Grimm studies, World History, and Dueling on Mondays and Wednesdays, while we have Dust Theory and Aura Manipulation together on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It appears that in order to incorporate all the different courses we need to take, we have different schedules on different days. Fridays, meanwhile seem to always be set aside for various events such as field trips and the quarterly school tournaments, among other things. Today classes are shortened, however, due to about three hours after lunch being set aside for 'Combat Skill Evaluations', which will be held in the dueling room." Nokama said, handing out individual schedules to the rest of her teammates.

"What about other teams? Who will be in our classes with us?" Layla asked, no doubt thinking about her brother.

"We'll just have to see that for ourselves, as that information isn't shown. Now, let's go to breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us, and I don't want to starve through our first classes!" Nokama said, heading out, being followed by the rest of team ANVL. As they arrived down in the dining hall, they saw that teams CROW and MNTS were already sitting at a table, eating various foods of their choice. Vakama personally had developed quite a fondness for pancakes, something that Nokama shared, especially with her ability to manipulate maple syrup.

Breakfast was a relatively short affair, as the teams had to eat fast before leaving for their respective classes. Vakama headed off to Grimm studies, noticing that Nuju was following him, indicating that he had the same subject for his first class. Soon, the various students were seated, and a portly, grey haired professor was standing at the head of the room, about to begin his lecture. Taking a deep breath, professor Peter Port began to speak.

"Monsters! Demons! Creatures of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I simply refer to them as prey! Ha ha!"

The class was silent. Vakama looked around to see what his teammates were doing. Arete was staring out into space, eyes blank as the paper he was supposed to be taking notes on. Layla, meanwhile, had already begun to doodle, her note pages covered in the beginnings of a drawing of her team. Nokama, meanwhile, was furiously copying down the diagrams of various Grimm that were hanging on the walls, sketching them in meticulous detail, the words written down in a beautiful flowing script. Vakama stared down at his own blank notes, before taking his pencil and writing down the first thing he had learned from the class.

'Creatures of Grimm = Prey'

"Uhm, and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy." The professor added on, noticing that nobody had laughed at his joke. Vakama added an exclamation point to the end of his sentence, before looking over at his blue haired teammate, who was using several tendrils of water to manipulate multiple pencils, already having copied down the diagrams, and was now theorizing on various ways her team could take down each grimm, drawing in crude stick figures to represent herself and her teammates.

"Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces, and that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses!" The professor winked at Yang, who was sitting in the front row. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world! That is what you are training to become, but first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man. Me!" Vakama looked down to see Nuju sitting stock still. To any outside observer, he would have seemed enraptured by the professor's words. Only the faint whirring of his optic as it zoomed in and out of focus indicated that he was in fact in a meditative state, shut off from the outside world. Vakama slowly felt his eyelids drooping as the professor launched into a tale. He dimly remembered something about cabbages before his eyes shut completely.

A light smack to the back of his head woke him. He turned his head to see Nokama looking at him, her hand having woken him from his momentary nap. Behind her, several pencils continued to write, detailing every little bit of Professor Port's tale, with illustrations provided. A small, neat stack of papers rested next to her, signifying her completed notes. Vakama sat up straighter, looking at his own notes. Aside from the single sentence he had written, the only addition made the notes was a small wet circle of drool. Looking around, Vakama saw that Arete was already out cold, while Layla was just finishing her drawing, adding in the color with the pack of colored pencils that rested beside her. In it, the four members of team ANVL were depicted in a cartoonish manner, with emphasized eyes and a downsized nose and mouth. In the picture, the four of them were smiling, their arms around each others' shoulders and their weapons in their respective holsters or on their backs. Behind them lay a dead Zivon, its eyes replaced with crude Xs and a black squiggle over its forehead. Layla was just adding the finishing strokes of color to Nokama's hair when Professor Port finished his tale.

"The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable! A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise! So, who amongst you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" The professor asked.

"I do, sir!" Vakama's attention focused on the source of the reply. It was Weiss Schnee.

"Well then, let's find out! Step forward, and face your opponent!" Professor Port gestured towards a cage, its contents beginning to growl and beat against the walls of its prison.

"May I get my weapon and change into my combat gear first, sir?" The white haired girl asked.

"Of course. You need only to ask." Port replied, allowing Weiss to leave the room. She came back a few minutes later, clad in her white combat skirt with her rapier, Myrtenaster, in her hand.

Assuming a combat stance, she faced the cage, her teammates cheering from the side, with Ruby cheering the loudest.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss shouted at her red cloaked teammate, causing her to noticeably droop and mutter an apology.

"Let the match... begin!" Professor Port shouted, raising his axe/blunderbuss combination weapon and slicing off the lock that kept the cage closed. With a low growl, the cage's contents, a small boarbatusk grimm, ran out, intending to gore Weiss with its tusks. The white haired heiress rolled out of the way, delivering a glancing blow to the creature's side as she did so, but it did not pierce the grimm's armored hide.

As Port and Ruby commented and cheered respectively, the two combatants faced each other. Weiss suddenly accelerated forward, intending on skewering her enemy upon her weapon, but the boar grimm had other ideas, using its armored head to deflect the blow, before trapping the blade with its tusks.

As Weiss attempted to regain control of her weapon, Ruby shouted, "Come on Weiss! Show it who's boss!"

Weiss turned towards the new source of sound, the distraction being all the creature needed to disarm her, sending the rapier flying.

Then, the weapon began to glow white. Looking down, Vakama saw Nuju staring at the weapon, a white glow visible as he used his mask power to stop the weapon in midair, before returning it to Weiss' hand, just as she was knocked back by the boarbatusk. As the creature leaped into the air, Weiss created a glyph, the porcine grimm slamming into it and falling down, belly exposed. A quick stab finished the fight.

Weiss looked around, only to see most of the class staring at Nuju, as the glow from his mask/pendant was still subsiding. The pendant's owner paid no heed to any of the curious students, choosing to simply add a few more points to his notes.

"Bravo, Bravo! It seems that we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and remember, stay vigilant. Class dismissed." Port said, allowing the students to stand and collect their belongings.

Vakama noticed a crowd gathering around Nuju, asking him questions about the pendant around his neck, the Ice Toa looking around the room for an escape. Spotting Vakama taking his leave, a smirk formed on his face.

"You want to know how I got this?" He asked. The people around him nodded eagerly.

"Vakama made it." Nuju said simply, before walking away.

* * *

Vakama made it five steps outside the classroom before a mob of students jumped him.

"Oh my dust, how did you make that pendant?"

"What kind of dust did you use?"

"Hey, he's got one too!"

"What's that one do?"

"Nokama's got one as well!"

"He must have made it for all his friends."

"Can I be your friend Vakky?"

"His name sounds a lot like Nokama's. Are they related?"

Vakama looked around, seeing all conventional escape routes cut off. Seeing no alternative, he activated his kanohi Huna and disappeared, the students around him noticing his pendant glowing briefly before it too vanished into thin air.

"He's gone invisible!"

"Spread out and look for him. He can't have gotten far!" A student cried, causing the crowd to disperse. Vakama took it as an opportunity to run like all Karzhani was after him. He made it to his next class, weapon forging and maintenance, right as the bell rang. To his dismay, he noticed a good number of students from his previous class were present as well, and they were all staring at him eagerly.

He also noticed Matau sitting right behind him. "Hey fire-spitter! This forge brings back memories, doesn't it?" The Air Toa said, much too loudly, to Vakama's dismay.

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Vakama said, but the damage was already done. The entire class suddenly looked at the pair, curiosity clear in their eyes. The teacher turned to him as well, no doubt expecting a story. Vakama groaned. He had already been singled out on the first day, and from the looks of it, the teacher, a professor Steele, would not be going easy on him.

* * *

Vakama walked out of the classroom with a smile on his face. Rather than the torturous workload he had expected, Vakama instead was simply asked to give the class a demonstration, during which he made a pair of discs for his launcher. He took it as an opportunity to experiment with infusing dust into his discs, filling one up with fire dust and another with lightning dust. While Vakama was by no means skilled at crafting Kanoka discs, his time making Kanohi masks from said discs had given him some knowledge about their creation. While he was by no means the best disc-maker in Ta-Metru, he was skilled enough to make kanoka of all types up to power level six, giving him the means to forge powerless kanohi using discs of his own make. However, as noble and great kanohi required discs of power levels seven and eight respectively, Vakama couldn't create the discs necessary to forge masks that held any real power. He made a note nonetheless to bring his mask maker's firestaff with him to class next time.

He paid no mind to the occasional stare thrown at him by the odd passing student as he proceeded to his next class.

* * *

The various first-year students filtered into the auditorium next to the dueling rooms in small groups of two or three, clad in their combat gear and with weapons at their sides, slowly filling up the seats available to them. Teams ANVL, CROW, and MNTS chose to sit together, and were amicably chatting as Professor Glynda Goodwitch walked out onto the stage.

"Attention." The students quickly quieted down. None of them wanted to get on the bad side of the school's disciplinarian, after all. "You are all gathered here today to take part in mandatory combat skill evaluations. You will now be paired up with another student, with whom you will proceed into a dueling room for a non-lethal sparring match, the non-lethality of which shall be ensured via specialized protective field generators present in the dueling rooms. We will use this opportunity to assess your strengths and weaknesses in combat, before giving you a grade ranging from E to A, which will be used to designate your combat rating, which will be used to determine the league you are placed in should you decide to participate in a tournament. You will be re-tested at the beginning of each year in order to keep said ratings up to date. Now, as I call your names, would each pair proceed into your assigned dueling room. First will be Vakama Garnett and Nora Valkyrie, to Dueling Room A."

Vakama stood, and saw a red haired girl wearing a pink skirt and white armor do the same. On her back was a grenade launcher, but Vakama knew that it had at least one transformation.

"Don't hurt him too much, Nora." A black haired boy wearing a green coat cautioned.

"I won't, Ren." The girl giggled as she skipped to the assigned dueling room, weapon swinging from her hands. Vakama followed her, albeit more sedately.

"Duel begins in 10 seconds." A robotic announcer said. Vakama readied his disc launcher, loading in one of the dust discs that he had made earlier that day. His opponent, meanwhile, raised her grenade launcher, a demonic smile on her face.

"3... 2... 1... Match Start." The announcer said, and the duel began.

Nora rapidly fired off a trio of grenades, causing Vakama to leap out of the way, the projectiles exploding into bursts of pink plasma on the wall behind him. Then, he took aim and fired his own disc launcher. Nora rolled out of the way of the projectile, but the red disc continued on its way, slamming into the wall and causing the fire dust within to detonate.

* * *

Nokama was sitting in the auditorium, watching the eight ongoing duels take place, her eyes focused on the battle between Vakama and Nora. She saw Vakama fire his disc launcher and miss, right before a deafening BANG! shook the auditorium. The video feed from Vakama's room cut out momentarily before switching to a different perspective, just as the room was showered with the remains of the dueling room 1 wall. All heads turned towards the pair fighting inside, the two duelists regaining their balance. Nokama glanced at the aura indicator, and saw that both Vakama's and Nora's aura gauges had gone down by about 10%, meaning that the duel was nowhere near its end.

* * *

Vakama regained his balance around the same time as Nora. Looking his opponent in the eyes, the two came to a silent agreement. As Nora spun her grenade launcher, the weapon shifting into a giant, two handed hammer, as Vakama changed his own weapon into its battleaxe form. The two sized each other up for a moment, before Nora charged, firing plasma bursts from her hammer to accelerate towards Vakama. The toa of fire, meanwhile, true to his title, shot several streams of fire at his opponent, forcing her into a lane of attack where her attacks could easily be blocked or dodged.

Vakama rolled out of the way as her hammer came down, activating his axe's rockets as he did so, delivering a horizontal sweeping strike at his opponent's legs, an attack which she dodged, leaping into the air in an attempt to deliver another blow. Her hammer passed through thin air, creating a crater in the room's floor, while giving Vakama the opportunity to counterattack, swinging low once again. The two continued in this manner for a few minutes, before a lucky swing from Nora's hammer caught Vakama in the side, sending him flying into a wall, leaving a Vakama shaped crater as he fell to the floor. Barely dodging a finishing blow, Vakama checked his scroll, showing his aura indicator. That single blow had brought him down to 40%. One more hit like that, and he would lose the match.

He saw another hammer strike heading for him, causing him to roll out of the way, activating his mask of invisibility as he did so.

"Aww, you're gone! That's no fun, come out and play!" Nora said, before raising her hammer and smashing a random patch of floor. She repeated the action several seconds later, smashing another area of the dueling room floor into smithereens. Vakama, meanwhile, had shifted his weapon back into disc launcher form and attached it to his back. Timing his movements so that it coincided with a smash of Nora's hammer, he jetted upwards towards the dueling room ceiling. After all, while his mask power made him invisible, it wouldn't hide the sound of his jetpack in use. Coming to a rest on one of the ledges, he took aim, loading a level 5 shrink disc while becoming visible once again. Then, he fired, the disc hitting Nora in her back. Within seconds, she was shrunk down to a quarter of her original size. She swayed once, twice, trying to keep her hammer steady, before Vakama leaped downward. The hammer fell to the ground, its downsized owner no longer able to keep it steady, just as Vakama used his disc launcher in a hammerlike fashion to attack the shrunken Nora. As the ginger haired girl leaped out of the way, she was met with a powerful punch to her face, sending her flying back. A distorted chime sounded from the damaged speaker at the top of the room, signalling the end of the duel.

"How long until this wears off?" Nora asked, panic showing in her now squeaky voice.

"It was a level 5 disc, so you should start to get back to normal size in an hour or so." Vakama replied, inwardly laughing at his former opponent's high pitched voice. The two of them walked out of the giant hole that Vakama had made in the dueling room wall, Nora sprinting to keep up with Vakama's slow pace, her tiny legs a blur. Vakama went back to his old seat, collapsing into it, while Nora leaped up onto Ren's lap, the boy giving her a concerned look, before smiling and patting her now tiny head.

"Blake Belladonna and Nokama Saphera, report to dueling room F." Glynda Goodwitch ordered, as the room's previous occupants walked out, supporting each other. Nokama stood, her opponent doing the same, before heading towards the dueling room in question.

* * *

"3...2...1... Match Start." The Toa of Water and the ex-White Fang member charged at each other, Blake firing her pistol while Nokama deflected the incoming bullets with her hydro-blades. As the two were about to enter melee range, Blake shifted her pistol into ninjato form, raising her sharpened sword sheath at the same time, barely raising her weapons to parry a pair of simultaneous incoming blows from her blue haired opponent. The two kept their blades crossed for several seconds, attempting to overpower each other, but failing to do so, being equally matched in terms of physical strength.

After several seconds passed, the two disengaged, retreating a short distance, before charging at each other again. Nokama struck first, her hydro-blades hissing through the air, only to pass through the shadow left behind by Blake's semblance, the ravenette already being in the air, attempting to end the duel with a decisive hit from above. However, her twin blades met steel as Nokama's weapons came up, crossed together to form an 'X'. Somersaulting backwards, Blake landed on the ground in a low crouch, weapons coming up just in time to meet a flurry of blows from her blue haired opponent. The two exchanged rapid-fire blows for nearly a minute, neither landing a decisive hit on the other. Nonetheless, their aura meters were still going down as the flying weapons occasionally landed a grazing blow on their target, being just enough to trigger a minute aura deduction. In addition, both fighters were slowly draining their aura reserves in attempts to enhance their strength, and Blake's occasionally went down in noticeable spurts as she used her semblance to evade a pair of incoming strikes.

* * *

Vakama watched Nokama fight, his teammate being forced into a battle of attrition against her foe, who was in much the same situation. To an untrained eye, the two forces seemed equally matched, but Vakama knew that Blake had the upper hand in the battle. The dry air of the training rooms meant that Nokama couldn't condense enough water to have any real impact on her enemy, and her mask power of translation could not contribute significantly to this particular engagement. Meanwhile, her enemy could crate shadowy decoys of herself in order to allow herself to evade Nokama's strikes in order to give herself a fleeting advantage. As these thoughts ran through his head, Vakama watched as Nokama dodged another flurry of blows from her black haired enemy, delivering a pair of counterstrikes as she did so, both being evaded.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Vakama, the same thoughts were running through Nokama's head, albeit at a much more frantic pace. She knew that she was at a disadvantage, being unable to condense enough water to use as a projectile. However, while there was not a significant amount of water in the room, there was still a small amount present, and that was enough.

A twirl of her weapons and Blake was sent back for a moment, giving Nokama the time she needed to fuse her weapons into trident form. Then, the Toa of Water fired both ends of the weapon, while simultaneously condensing water around the long cables connecting the extended trident heads to the central staff. The first trident head punched through one of the silhouettes left behind by an evading Blake, leaving a crater in the ground, while the second trident turned harpoon whistled through the air at blinding speed, Blake barely dodging the attack. However, with the heads extended, Blake saw an opportunity to finish the fight. Sprinting forward, she raised her twin blades in preparation to deal a finishing blow to her overextended opponent, only to have one of the trident heads slam into the ground in front of her before retreating to a position just above its user's shoulder. Nokama smirked. The coating of water on the harpoon cables allowed her to control their trajectories, enabling her to wield them less like simple ranged weapons and more like extensions of her own body. Like a pair of snakes, the two trident harpoons lashed out again and again, but their target was simply too fast, the weapons either meeting air or slicing down a silhouette. This continued for nearly a minute, before a warning beep sounded from Nokama's scroll. Quickly glancing down at it, her eyes widened in shock at how her aura level had dropped. It was rapidly approaching the critical red zone, after which the duel would end. In a fit of panic, she dispelled the water coating, causing the harpoon tridents to fall down limply before quickly retracting. They didn't retract fast enough though. Seeing another opportunity, Blake charged, weapons ready. Her first blow was blocked by the trident staff sans head, but the second met its mark, sending Nokama flying as a chime indicated the end of the duel.

Rising shakily to her feet, Nokama looked down at her scroll, which was now showing the end-of-battle statistics for both contestants. While her own aura had dropped into the red, Nokama noticed that Blake's aura was almost as badly depleted, the sheer amount of dodging and silhouette generation required for the duel having taken a toll on her own aura supply. Looking up, she saw Blake standing up from the ground, supporting herself on her sword.

Neither side acknowledged the other, rather, the two fighters left the dueling room without so much as a glance between them.

* * *

Nuju's optic whirred as he sized up his opponent. Young, black hair with a stripe of pink, and not particularly muscular, Lie Ren was far from the most impressive opponents in terms of physical appearance. However, Nuju knew better than most that appearances could be deceiving. After all, Ren was incredibly agile, and what he lacked in stamina he made up in the ferocity of his strikes. Nuju knew that, if he would be able to weather the boy's initial attack, he would likely be able to win in a battle of attrition, but it was a big if.

"3... 2... 1... Match Start."

As soon as the announcement went off, the two occupants of the dueling room charged. His Crystal Spikes shifted into sword form, Nuju scanned his opponent, his prosthetic allowing him to see his opponent's movement from a much faster timeframe, making it seem as if Ren were moving in slow motion. Of course, that did not mean that Nuju could move any faster, indeed his own movements seemed slow and sluggish when seen through the prosthetic, but it gave the Ice Toa time to plan his next move.

A slow burst of blue light, closely followed by a second, indicated the first bullets exiting Ren's weapons, each one a projectile that, should they hit, would quickly end the match. However, Nuju had his own ability that could counteract this. His mask/pendant glowing, a slight telekinetic push was given to each of the flying projectiles, shifting their trajectories by incredibly small amounts, but the result was plainly visible. Of the exactly thirty two bullets fired by Lie Ren during his opening attack, not a single one hit. Instead, each bullet barely missed its mark, sometimes flying less than a millimeter away from Nuju's body, the white haired Toa remaining absolutely motionless, as even a slight movement could put him in the path of a telekinetically deflected bullet.

The entire exchange was over in less than 5 seconds. From Nuju's altered point of view, it lasted for more than a minute.

Not giving his opponent time to recover from his shock, Nuju rushed forward, his perspective returning to a normal timeframe. Ren leaped over his first attack, ducking under a second, and leaped forward to avoid a third, firing another short volley from his weapons as he did so. Unfortunately for him, the bullets bounced off a sword that appeared in their path, the blade's owner once again accurately predicting the trajectories of the incoming attacks. Meanwhile, the blade's twin was flying towards its target, its path promising a swift decapitation were the fight a real, life or death experience. However, the weapon was met by a pinkish field that stopped the weapon in its tracks, Lie Ren's aura shielding him from harm. However, Nuju pressed the attack, keeping his blade pressed against Ren's shield. Nuju knew that Ren lacked endurance, both physically and in terms of aura, and sought to quickly wear away at his opponent's aura supply. However, while one of Ren's arms was pre-occupied with blocking Nuju's strike, the second was free. Raising his left hand, Ren fired off the remaining bullets in his weapon's magazine. Had his opponent been any other student at the academy, the point blank barrage would have dealt a horrific blow to their aura reserve, but Nuju could, once again, simply use his telekinetic ability to deflect the bullets. However, the close range meant that the Ice Toa had to resort to less efficient means to block the bullets. Rather than altering their trajectory, which required range to have any real effect, Nuju was instead forced to stop the bullets in midair, the projectiles clattering to the ground.

Unfortunately for him though, the use of mask powers was registered as aura usage by the dueling room monitors, and thus Nuju suffered a noticeable deduction from his aura reserves. However, his aura gauge was not the only one being depleted. Lie Ren's gauge was also dropping at a considerable rate, already down below the half way mark. Keeping up the force field was incredibly draining, and Nuju only added to the pressure by forcing a second energy shield to come into being with a second attack. The strain of keeping two defensive aura shields up at the same time was too much for Ren, a chime signalling his defeat seconds after Nuju's second attack.

Giving his weapons a quick twirl, Nuju returned them to his sides, Ren doing much the same with his own. The two simply nodded to each other as they left the dueling room, each one acknowledging the other's skill without any words going between them. After all, Nuju and Lie Ren weren't the chattiest of people. No, that was a job reserved for their respective partners.

"That went by quickly." Rowan commented as Nuju sat down. Rowan's own match had lasted for nearly 5 minutes, ending when his opponent, Sky Lark, was disarmed by Rowan snapping his staff closed onto Lark's halberd, using his partially transformed weapon as a vice to rip his enemy's weapon out of his hands.

"I guess so. It seemed longer to me, though." Nuju commented, turning his eyes towards the screen, where Ruby Rose and Pyrrha Nikos were fighting. The older girl had the advantage, being experienced in fighting other people, while Ruby had no dueling experience outside from the occasional strictly controlled training matches at Signal. In addition, Ruby seemed to be unable to land a blow on her opponent, her rapid scythe blows barely missing their target, even if they looked as if they should have hit their target. Nuju's optic whirred as he took a closer look, examining the two fighters. However, Nuju's investigation was interrupted by a loud scream coming from the wrecked Dueling Room A. His head twisting towards the source, Nuju saw Jaune fly across the room, landing on his feet, while his opponent, Cardin Winchester, if Nuju remembered correctly, raised his mace and strode towards his downed opponent at a leisurely pace, mace resting on his shoulder. This, however, proved to be a mistake, as Jaune suddenly ran forward, shield covering him from above while his sword swept down at Cardin's legs. The blade hit, scything the bigger boy's legs out from under him while simultaneously putting a dent in the red haired boy's aura. Cardin stood no chance, his mace being ill suited for blocking the blow that came down, finishing him and ending the fight. Jaune's offered hand was knocked aside, the losing boy using the opportunity to knock an unprepared Jaune to the ground. Now that the match had ended, the protective fields were disabled, allowing Cardin to inflict injury on his now defenseless opponent, but before anything could happen, a furious Glynda Goodwitch stormed into the room through the giant, smashed open wall and pulled Cardin off his victim.

"Matau Verdaunt and Yang Xiao Long, report to Dueling Room A." Glynda called as she led Cardin away, Jaune slowly walking back to his seated team.

* * *

"3... 2... 1... Match Start."

"Hey, Matau! Come here, I have a secret to tell ya!" Yang shouted.

"What is it?" Matau said, walking over.

"There's something on your face." Yang said, before delivering a crushing punch to Matau's face, sending the green haired Toa flying.

"There! I think I got it off!" Yang said, cheerfully, as Matau righted himself and came down, landing fairly smoothly. He dimly noticed the sound of the rest of the room's occupants laughing at him, but his attention was focused entirely on Yang, who was walking over to him, fists up and ready to finish him.

Activating his mask power, Matau watched as multiple illusory decoys formed around him, each an immaterial clone of the original Matau. They all rushed forward, only to be met with a barrage of flares. Each one met its mark, and each illusion hit shattered, fading out of existence. However, more illusions kept appearing to take the place of the destroyed ones, and Yang had no choice but to destroy them all, on the off chance that the next one down would be the real Matau.

Unfortunately for her, the real Matau had disguised himself as air, using the opportunity to get behind his opponent. Dispelling his illusion, he swung his Aero Slicers, intending to take Yang out with a pair of well aimed blows. Unfortunately for him, Yang saw him coming and dodged, but it wasn't fast enough. One of Matau's blades missed her body, but in its path was a single, innocent strand of golden hair. Said golden hair was sliced in half with neither mercy nor remorse, and its severed strand slowly floated to the floor, in plain view of its former owner.

"You... You MONSTER!" Yang screamed, launching herself at the soon-to-be-traumatized Matau. The unfortunate Air Toa barely deflected the first punch, before the second blow hit him square in the groin, causing him to double over as a shotgun round was unloaded point blank into his nuts, the protective field being the only factor ensuring that he would retain the ability to sire children. Barely half a second after the first impact, a second punch slammed into Matau's face, sending his Aura into the red zone, the chime ending the match. However, it did nothing to placate the enraged golden-haired monster that was attacking him, with a volley of punches slamming into his eyes, nose, mouth, and reproductive organs.

Matau's salvation came in the form of Glynda Goodwitch, the professor struggling to pull the berserk Yang off the crippled Toa of Air.

"LEMME AT HIM! LEMME AT HIM!" Yang screamed, her fists still flying towards the prone Air Toa, the latter struggling to his feet and limping away. On his way out of the dueling room, he was met by Ruby Rose, who had just finished her own fight with Pyrrha Nikos.

"You cut her hair, didn't you." Ruby commented as she saw Matau limp towards his seat. A pained groan and a weak nod was all the response she was given before Matau collapsed into a seat next to Nokama.

"Water-sister... help... me..." He groaned, before passing out.

* * *

"Onewa Adalstein and Whenua Terrano, please report to Dueling Room D. You will be the last pair to be evaluated today." Glynda announced, causing the two Toa to stand up. Every other student in the room had already fought, or was still fighting, as was the case of Weiss Schnee and Cedar Ferrix, the two Glyph users staying back and bombing each other with energy missiles.

The Toa of Earth and Stone went up to their dueling room, weapons at the ready. Turning to face each other, they waited for the match to start, Whenua keeping his weapons in drill form, while Onewa had shifted his into Bolt Driver configuration.

"3... 2... 1... Match Start."

As soon as the match began, Whenua crouched down, jamming his drills into the floor while simultaneously dodging Onewa's opening volley. Channeling his power through the drills, Whenua caused a fissure to rush towards his stone counterpart, Onewa leaping out of the way just in time, the fissure shattering the dueling room wall instead. Whenua saw Glynda put her hand to her face in exasperation, while Onewa leaped forward, his weapon splitting into Proto-Piton form. Shifting his drills into chainsaws, Whenua met Onewa's attack, chainsaws roaring and sparking as they met pitons. However, Onewa wasn't done. Using his control over stone, he caused a pair of spikes to suddenly sprout from the floor, sending Whenua flying into the air. However, Whenua was far from defeated, using the opportunity to shift his weapons back into drill form, before combining the drills into one big unit. Coming down hard, he slammed the drill into the floor, causing a massive shockwave to emanate from the point of impact and sending Onewa flying into a wall. However, this was not the only effect of the shockwave, as the tremors traveled out of the room, causing the entire auditorium to shake. The video feed from Dueling Room D cut off, the TV screen showing the match breaking in a shower of sparks, along with several other sets. Glynda Goodwitch's eye twitched.

The whine of chainsaws sounded out as Whenua changed his weapons' forms again, meeting a pair of blows coming from Onewa's proto pitons. A short exchange of blows followed, the weapons releasing showers of sparks as they met each other. Then, the ground below Whenua's feet suddenly surged up, a hexagonal column suddenly flying upward, slamming Whenua up into the air. The Toa of Earth had scarcely come down again before a second column hit him up again.

"DAMMIT ONEWA! THIS IS JUST LIKE THE COLISEUM ALL OVER AGAIN!" Whenua shouted as he was bounced around the dueling room, his aura gauge slowly depleting with each bounce. Finally, when the chime signalling the duel's end sounded, the bouncing stopped. Whenua groaned, slowly coming to his feet, taking the hand that Onewa offered him.

Walking out of the dueling room, the two Toa sat down with the rest of their team, and waited for Glynda to make a speech. Said professor was just walking up to the podium, which was mostly undamaged, although the stage was cracked in places.

"Well, that was certainly an... eventful evaluation. Only two dueling rooms were badly damaged, so I suppose that is a plus, although replacing all these damaged TV monitors will be a pain..." One of said TV monitors chose that moment to release another shower of sparks, while another nearby screen flickered slightly. "Regardless, you have all done very well today. Your results will be delivered tomorrow. As I said before, you will receive a grade ranging from E to A, as well as several pointers on how to improve your technique. This grade will determine your league placement when it comes to tournaments, although should you wish to re-test before a tournament you will be granted the opportunity. In addition, these grades will determine your eligibility when it comes to missions, which you will be introduced to during the second semester of your first school year. Bear in mind that your winning or losing these training matches will have little impact on your final grade. These grades are based on technique alone. Now, any questions?" Nobody raised their hand. "Good. You are all dismissed."

The students poured out of the auditorium, heading back to their respective dormitories.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long. This chapter's been sitting around in my doc manager for almost a month now, and I have spent perhaps 3-5 days actually working on it. It's shorter than I'd like it to be, but in the end it was a choice between a 12-13k word chapter and another month of work or releasing this now. I do confess that I did get lazy around the last fight, which is why it's so short.**

**Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long to release, but with my workload being as high as it is right now, I can make no promises about release dates. **

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this story. I am planning on starting up a new story as well, and I have 3 ideas for what to write. If you are so inclined, please visit my profile page to see an (out of date) update schedule, some random plot bunnies up for adoption, and a poll coupled with 3 story ideas. **


End file.
